Chasing Dreams
by kgmohror
Summary: Lou has dreamed of saving up enough money to provide for her sister and brother on their own place. Suddenly her carefully planned future is threatened. Can she and Kid keep her dream alive?
1. Chapter 1

Dead-tired after nearly 11 hours in the saddle, the Kid perked up a bit when the familiar outline of the village of Rock Creek appeared on the horizon. As much as he loved his job as a rider for the Pony Express, it was always nice to see the lights of home.

The thought made him smile. Though stationmaster Teaspoon Hunter's team had relocated from Sweetwater only a few weeks ago, Kid found he was quickly settling in and putting down roots. He knew it had less to do with the new base than with his steadily rewarming relationship with a certain petite rider with big, brown eyes and a feisty attitude.

Following a few weeks of estrangement after her refusal of his marriage proposal – the most miserable period of his life – Kid and Louise "Lou" McCloud had started slowly and carefully finding their way back to each other. It was requiring compromise on both sides; Kid would never feel all right about Lou putting herself in danger, but he grudgingly accepted her right to make that decision for herself. And Miss McCloud seemed to understand that what she'd called "crowding her" was the only way Kid knew to protect what was most precious to him in the world. Both of them had suffered enough losses in their short lives. Kid was determined to spend the rest of his doing everything he could to make sure the rest of Lou's was happy and safe.

Things weren't back to where they had been … before. But surely it wasn't a coincidence that Lou's smiling face was always the first he saw when he rode in after a long ride, any more than it was accidental that he prowled the front porch of the bunkhouse when she was due in from one of hers.

The sun was low on the horizon behind Kid, creating long shadows that seemed to chase Katy's hooves toward her familiar paddock. The young rider would be late for supper – beef stew, if he reckoned right – but he knew Rachel would be keeping a plate warm. The evening was clear and mild, a soft breeze blowing across the prairie all the way from the Rockies, for all he knew. There would be a full moon tonight, and as he pulled Katy back to a slow trot at the edge of town, Kid was making plans to coax Lou into a quiet stroll a little later down by the river that gave the place its name.

He straightened in the saddle and smiled broadly when he heard a familiar voice call from the shadows of the bunkhouse porch. "Rider comin'!" It had become habit to make such announcements, even when there was no rider waiting to take up the mochila for the next stage of a run. More than anything, it was a grateful acknowledgement that one of their own had come through another ride safe and sound – something never taken for granted. Theirs was hard and dangerous work.

"Hey!" Lou called more softly now, stepping down off the porch to reach for Katy's bridle. Her broad smile glowed in the gloaming, and Kid swung his leg over Katy's side with more haste than grace in his eagerness to be near her. She peered up into his face and lightly brushed a cloud of dust off the front of his homespun shirt. "Hard ride?"

"Just a mite tirin'," he replied, grinning back at her. "But I'm feelin' better already." He was aware of a low murmur of voices and laughter from inside the brightly lit bunkhouse. "Supper already done?" He started toward the washtub next to the well, and she fell in step beside him.

"Nope, the rest of the boys are still chowin' down," Lou remarked. "I wasn't that hungry, and figured I might as well wait for you."

"Thanks. I'll enjoy the company." Kid bent and dunked his face in the cold water, then wiped it dry with the towel hanging over the pump handle. As the two riders turned back toward the bunkhouse, it was all Kid could do to keep from sliding his arm around Lou's slender waist. She drew him like a magnet. He craved the closeness they used to share, in every sense of the word, but he was determined not to move too far, too fast this time. The Kid was a man who learned from his mistakes.

In the bunkhouse, Kid was vexed to see that the only two empty places were at opposite ends of the table. He had a notion to bump Cody further down the bench to make room for Lou next to him, but knew that would only invite teasing from the rest of the riders, who seemed endlessly entertained by the fits and starts of his relationship with Lou. Instead, Kid tucked into the steaming plate Rachel set before him – beef stew, just as he expected – and redoubled his determination to spend time alone with Lou after supper.

Rachel poured a ladleful of stew into Kid's empty bowl, then moved down the table, offering the dregs at the bottom of the kettle to those who were ready for a second helping. As she passed behind Lou, she paused and reached into the pocket of her apron. "This came on the stage for you today," she said, handing Lou an envelope. Most personal mail came through the U.S. postal service via the biweekly stagecoach; it was a slower, but much less expensive alternative to their own Express service. Kid saw Lou brighten as she glanced at the postmark.

"It's from St. Joe!" she shared.

Kid smiled around a bite of his biscuit while watching the excited young woman out of the corner of his eye. Her small fingers eagerly ripped open the envelope. Kid knew Louise didn't get to see her sister and brother as often as she'd like, and she treasured the packets of drawings, examples of school work and general updates the sisters at the St. Joseph orphanage occasionally forwarded. Theresa had recently learned to write her name, and the wall behind Lou's bunk was now a gallery of tacked-up primitive sketches of dogs, cats and horses signed by the six-year-old artist herself.

Across the table, Cody had launched into one of his tall tales centered, as usual, on himself. Kid quickly found himself drawn into the blond braggart's wild story of being pursued by a love-sick moose halfway from Split Rock to Devil's Gate, when a gasp from further down the table swiveled Kid's attention immediately back to Lou. She was staring wide-eyed at a sheaf of paper held in her trembling hands. Her face had gone dead white, and her mouth was working silently, as if she were trying to say something she couldn't get out.

"Lou!" Kid exclaimed. "What's the-"

Before he could finish, the girl had leapt to her feet, crumpling the letter in her small fist as she darted for the bunkhouse door. In a second, Kid was hard on her heels. By the time he got to the porch she was halfway to the stables and even with his long strides he was hard-pressed to catch up to her.

"Hey! Hey, Lou!" he called as he sprinted after her. She made no sign of hearing him until she reached the door of the stable, when she suddenly stopped and spun around. Loping toward her at full speed, Kid nearly ran into the petite figure who was glowering at him as he skidded to a stop.

"Whatcha want, Kid?"

He saw she was trembling, though with fear or fury he couldn't tell. Instinctively he wrapped a palm around each of her shoulders, but she shrugged him off and turned again to open the stable door. "I ain't got time to deal with you now," she muttered, disappearing into the darkness inside.

Kid followed after her. "I just want to know what's got ya so upset." He trailed her like a shadow as she paced rapidly back and forth in the narrow space.

"Ain't nothin' for you to concern yourself with," she retorted, giving the nearest wall a sharp kick from her left boot.

Frustrated, Kid grabbed her forearm and turned her to face him. "You can call it crowdin' you if you want, Lou, but I'm not leaving this barn 'til you tell me what's going on." Seeing vulnerability behind her defiant glare, his expression softened. "You're scarin' me, Lou. Please, just tell me what's got you in such a state."

She emitted a shuddering sigh, and Kid thought for a second that she was going to throw herself into his arms. Instead, she turned away and leaned her forehead against the rough stable wall. "They're givin' 'em away," she said softly. There was a quaver in her voice.

Every instinct told Kid to gather her in his arms, hold her tight and protect her from whatever was causing this deep hurt. But he knew how important it was to her not to appear weak or give out that she might need anybody else. So instead he merely asked, "Who's giving who away? What are you talking about, Lou?"

She turned around and his heart clenched as he saw an expression of complete despair on her delicate features. "Theresa and Jeremiah," she said. "The sisters are gonna send them off with strangers to live. I ain't never gonna see my little 'uns again!"


	2. Chapter 2

Kid stood next to a kerosene lantern and squinted at the letter from the St. Joseph orphanage. It was heavily creased and a little damp from having been wadded up in Lou's fist, but he could just make out the words written in a graceful, feminine hand.

" _Dear Louise,_

 _I hope this letter finds you well and in favorable circumstances. I'm writing with some news that will, I trust, ease your mind about your sister and brother's welfare. A very generous and upstanding couple recently visited our school and were quite taken with Theresa and Jeremiah. They are unable to have children of their own, and expressed the wish to adopt the children._

 _Having prayed and reflected over this situation for some time, I have come to the decision to approve the adoption. I'm sure you will agree that this is an ideal turn of events, both for you and for your siblings. They will receive a good education and moral guidance in a respectable household, and you will be freed from the burden of trying to find a means to support yourself and them._

 _I and the other sisters will miss Jeremiah and Theresa, of whom we have become quite fond. We will continue to pray for them, and for you, Louise, that you will walk a path of holiness in whatever journey your life takes._

 _Yours in faith,_

 _Sister Angelica, O.S.B., St. Joseph, MO_

Kid looked up from the letter to Lou, who stood opposite him with arms tightly crossed over her chest.

"They can't do that, can they? Give away your sister and brother without your leave?"

Lou's narrow shoulders lifted in a tense shrug. "I reckon they think they can do whatever they want. They gave 'Miah and Theresa to Boggs without even tellin' me."

"Yeah, but he was their own pa," Kid said, then instantly regretted it as he saw Louise's face darken and her eyes flash with anger.

"Boggs warn't their pa any more than he was mine," she spat. "Don't care what the law says, or the church, neither. Them young'uns is mine to care for. Our ma-" Her voice hitched a little, and she swallowed hard. "Our ma made me promise to be sure they'd be all right, that I'd keep us all together." She cast her gaze down to the hay-strewn dirt floor. "Guess I haven't done so well at either one so far."

Wishing there was something more he could do, Kid reached out to give her a reassuring pat on the arm. "Don't say that, Lou. You've done more than most could've to do right by them. Haven't you been saving practically every penny you earn to buy your own place for the three of ya?"

She nodded, but kept her head bowed. "But it's not enough, Kid. I'd hoped to have set by at least enough to put down earnest money on a place by now. But with the price of land like it is, I'll be an old lady before I scrape up enough to buy a plot even big enough to set a necessary on." She paused and bit her bottom lip in the way Kid had learned meant she was fighting back tears. "I wanted to show the sisters I'd be able to claim my kin and give 'em a good life. Now I've run out of time and it's too late."

"No it ain't," Kid answered. "You can tell the sisters you've got enough together to be able to bring the children back here to a home of their own."

Lou looked up at him like he'd just suggested she rob the 1st Territorial Bank. "I can't lie to nuns, Kid! And 'sides, they'd want proof before they let me fetch Jeremiah and Theresa back here."

"You won't be lyin'. I reckon you'll have enough with your savings and mine to get an acre or two. Not much, but enough for a cabin and a garden, for now. Then later on-"

"Hold on, Kid! I can't take your savings! You've been savin' up for your own spread."

Kid stifled an exasperated sigh. The truth was, for a long time now every penny he'd tucked away for the future had her name on it right next to his. But now was not the time to share that dream; not when all Lou could see was the crashing down of her own. "I'm not in no hurry, and you can pay me back a little at a time." Lou snorted in disbelief at that, so he hurriedly continued, "And even if you can't pay me back, or not for a long spell, it don't matter. I'm young and have plenty of time to store up more. You need money right now."

Lou shook her head. "After you've worked so hard? You're not like Cody, Kid, spendin' his paycheck 'fore he even earns it. Having your own ranch is as important to you as having my sister and brother back are to me." She hesitated and averted her gaze. "It ain't like … we've got any tie between us. You aren't bound to help me."

Now Kid did utter a sigh – a loud and rather irritable one. "Louise McCloud, if you're not the stubbornest person I ever met! I _want_ to help ya. Not out of obligation or to make you beholden to me, neither. I want to 'cause you're my friend." When she turned back to look at him, still a little uncertainly, he added, "Fact is, somebody helped me out a long time ago, when I needed it. Seems only right I should pass that kindness along." Sensing she was wavering, he smiled gently at her. "Maybe you'll be in a position to do the same for somebody else someday."

Lou was worrying her lower lip again, but after a few seconds she regained her composure. "It still don't feel right, Kid, but if you're really sure …"

He nodded vigorously. "I'm sure. Now let's go back to the bunkhouse and you can start writing the sisters to tell them. I think Cody's headed east tomorrow; we can send the letter with him, and-" He broke off as he noticed Lou was pulling open the gate to Lightning's stall. "What are you doing?"

"I can't wait for no letter, Kid. Gotta go myself before the sisters ship my kin off who knows where." She had lifted her horse's saddle onto the animal's back with practiced ease and was hurriedly fastening the straps under her belly.

"You can't leave right now," Kid argued. "It's after 8 o'clock! Wait 'til morning, after you've had a good night's sleep and are fresh."

Lou didn't even pause in her bustle of activity. "No, I can't wait. And I wouldn't get a wink of sleep all night, worrying about my brother and sister." Anticipating his objection, she added, "It's a fine, full moon tonight, practically bright as daylight. And the trail is good and level clear to Kennekuk. I'll ride that far, then bunk down for a couple of hours before I head into St. Joe in the morning. I can be at the orphanage by noon."

Kid watched her a moment, then threw up his hands and headed for Katy's stall.

"Wait a second!" Lou exclaimed when her attention was caught by Kid slinging his own saddle over Katy. "You ain't comin' with me."

"Oh, yes I am," he muttered, cinching the saddle tight.

"Not necessary. I'm perfectly capable of gettin' there on my own. I've ridden that route a dozen times."

"And if Lightning throws a shoe? Or a gang of outlaws sees you ride past? Or an Pawnee war party?"

Lou rolled her eyes at him. He narrowed his at her.

"And what if a grizzly drops out of a tree onto ya, huh? What would you do then, Miss Independent?"

The girl laughed out loud. "Kid, how many grizzly bears have you seen in these parts? Not a one. 'Cause there ain't any."

"Or maybe 'cause they only come out at night," he challenged.

"You've already put in a full day on a horse. You'll slow me down."

Kid grimaced, recognizing the words he'd said to her a long time ago, just after he'd discovered her secret. "You're never gonna let me live that down, are you."

"Don't seem likely."

But just as Lou didn't pay him any mind back then, Kid had no intention to giving in to her now.

"Doesn't matter. I'm fresh as a daisy. Never felt so lively in my life." He did a little jig to demonstrate the point.

"You're not talkin' sense."

"You're not leavin' without me."

They stared each other down.

Finally, Lou heaved an aggrieved sigh. "What was it you were sayin' a minute ago about bein' stubborn?"

Kid felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "My ma used to say, two mules make a team."

Lou grunted. "Your ma sounds like a smart lady." She gave him a playful shove. "Too bad it didn't rub off.

When Kid stood there grinning at her, Lou frowned and made a herding gesture. "Well, if you're comin', get a move on. Moonlight's wastin'."

Kid laughed. "Can you at least give me five minutes to pack a spare pair of britches?"


	3. Chapter 3

Kid squinted into the darkness ahead of him, focused intently on the dark form of Lou and Lightning galloping a few yards ahead of him. This was not the moonlit ramble with the girl that he'd pictured. Despite her protestations that they'd be as safe as if it were broad daylight, Kid knew how easy it would be for either horse to spook or misstep on the heavily shadowed trail. Though staying loose in the saddle would help prevent injury in a fall, Kid's muscles were tense and his eyes ached with the effort of maintaining a razor-sharp alertness.

It had taken a bit more than five minutes for them both to collect their gear and inform the others of their plan. Of course the rest of the boys wanted to join the expedition, but with Teaspoon out of town on sheriff business, Jimmy had been deputized to keep order in town. Buck was scheduled to ride the next morning, and Ike was laid up with a pair of cracked ribs from a bad fall off his horse. That just left Cody and the new man, Noah, available to handle the chores around the station and any unexpected ride that might come up – with war brewing, the riders were being called to deliver more and more urgent dispatches at a moment's notice.

Rachel had hastily packed some provisions and with all the fuss of packing up and saying goodbyes, it was almost 9 o'clock when they finally rode out of town on the same road Kid had ridden in on only a couple of hours before. Several hours had passed since then, and although Kid's caution kept him wide awake, his body was feeling the fatigue of the better part of a 24-hour day on horseback. Fortunately, Katy had only made the last leg of Kid's previous ride, the 12 miles from Rocky Ridge Station, so she was still reasonably fresh. Still, Kid didn't like pushing his loyal paint or subjecting her to potential risk. He liked the idea of Lou coming to harm even less.

His ma used to say that nothing good ever happened after midnight, and Kid was inclined to believe her.

As if to confirm his foreboding, the far horizon ahead of them was suddenly lit by a flash of lightning. Beyond the expanse of starlit sky overhead, a line of black had appeared. Now there were additional flashes inside those dark clouds, and a distant rumble of thunder rolled over the plain toward them. Kid saw Lou pull up on the reins and slow Lightning to a walk. Katy came up beside the black mare and Kid nudged her to an equal pace. He looked toward Lou and could make out that she was scowling.

"Just my luck," she groused, nodding toward the rapidly approaching thunderhead. "Even I'm not fool enough to try 'n ride through a downpour in the middle of the night. Guess we'd better find a place to hole up until morning."

"Pole Creek #3 can't be far," Kid answered. He wasn't eager to bed down in that dank and dirty outpost, which most riders avoided whenever possible. But any port in a storm, as the saying went. With the thunder getting louder and the wind picking up, Kid and Lou urged their horses to a canter. The first fat drops of rain were beginning to fall when the dark mound of the hill into which the disused station was built appeared. The riders slipped off their horses, which Kid led to the cramped log horse shed while Lou toted their saddlebags into the dug-out. The sprinkle had become a driving rain in the few minutes it took to settle the horses, and he was soaked through by the time he burst through the rough timber door into the shelter.

Lou had already been busy lighting a kerosene lamp and getting a fire started in the wood stove, fueling it from a basket of dried corncobs. Acrid smoke rose from the cast iron contraption, further contributing to the thick layer of soot on the low ceiling. A single bunk, covered with a buffalo blanket, stood in the corner, while the center of the room contained a rickety table and a couple of wooden boxes to sit on. Kid noted that the mud walls had sometime been papered with newspapers and sheets from magazines. These, too, had a dingy look from the combination of dirt floor and persistent wood smoke. It was hard to imagine a less hospitable refuge. But it was all they had.

"Not exactly the Redfern Hotel, huh?" Kid remarked, then instantly colored, remembering the last time he'd stayed at that clean and comfortable inn had been with her. But if his words evoked memories for Lou, she didn't show it.

"I've seen worse," Lou answered. She'd squatted near the stove and begun untying her bedroll.

"You can have the bunk," Kid said, nodding toward the dark mass in the corner. His companion snorted.

"Think I'll pass. That buffalo blanket is so fulla fleas, I swear it's ready to crawl off the bed. We may have to beat it off with a stick if it comes for us."

Kid laughed, then winced as the movement tugged on muscles strained from his extended saddle time. "I reckon you're right that the floor is safer." He cast a sidelong glance at her and added, "You did check for snakes when you came in, didn't you?"

Lou squeaked and scrambled to her feet. Then, seeing his grin, she grabbed a corncob from the basket beside her and chucked it at him. "Very funny."

Kid chuckled as he began unrolling his own blanket … but cast a furtive look into all corners of the room as he did so. Better safe than sorry.

As exhausted as he was, Kid expected to drop off as soon as he lay down on his back with his arms crossed under his head for a pillow. But instead he found his mind racing with thoughts and worries about what the next day would bring. Would they really be able to convince the sisters at the orphanage to turn over two children to a girl hardly much older than the kids themselves? A girl who had been dressing like a boy and living in close quarters with six men for more than a year? Lou's restless movements beside him suggested she wasn't getting any more sleep than he was.

"Still awake?" he whispered.

"Yeah." She was quiet a moment, then murmured, "I've been tryin' to figure out what to tell the sisters about our … situation."

"What situation is that, Lou?"

"Well … you showin' up with me, offerin' your grubstake to help me buy a place for the young'uns and me … the sisters are likely to think we're, uh …" Kid heard her clear her throat. "That is, they'll figure you and me have, well, an understanding."

"So?"

She sat up abruptly, and he turned onto his side to look at her. "Kid! I already told you how I feel about not bein' truthful. Lyin's a bad enough sin on its own, but lyin' to a nun has to be twice as bad. I can't believe you of all people would even suggest it!"

"I _ain't_ suggestin' that. Jest that we don't need to spell it all out for 'em unless they ask. If they happen to assume we're intended, it's no skin off my back – 'specially if it helps you get Jeremiah and Teresa."

"And if they do want to know the particulars of our relationship?"

Kid sighed. Why did Lou have to be so prickly about things? "Then I'll tell them what you told me after the fight against Pike's gang: We Express riders are a kind of family. And when one of us is in trouble, the rest of us got to help out. Aint' nothin' to be ashamed of in that."

Silence. Then: "I guess so." He watched her lay back down and wrestle her blanket around her again. A minute later he heard her growl and slam a small fist against the dirt floor.

"What now?" Kid asked.

"I'm just so danged mad at myself, havin' to borrow from your hard-earned savings. I shoulda been able to save up enough of my own money to take care of Jeremiah and Teresa. Do you know I got three dresses in my trunk? Three! And ain't got a use for even one of 'em. It's just plain vanity, wantin' to look nice like all them pretty gals in town. What a laugh."

Kid rolled over and propped himself up on an elbow. "Nothin' laughable about it. Firstly, you're entitled to a few nice things for yourself. God knows you work hard enough for it. The cost of them dresses don't make no difference in your fitness to raise your sister and brother." He paused, not sure how to phrase his next thought. Finally he continued slowly, "Secondly, I've seen you come in from a 14-hour ride covered in mud and lookin' like a drowned rat. And there's not a one of them town gals can hold a candle to you even then, no matter how painted up and powdered they are."

There was a sound from the darkness beside him, something almost like a sniffle. "I know I ain't pretty, Kid," Lou whispered, then added, almost too softly to hear, "But I'm glad you think so."


	4. Chapter 4

Kid's first thought, when his aching joints and sore muscles woke him, was that he was getting too old for this kind of thing. Then he smiled to himself, imagining what Teaspoon, who had slept rougher in his time than Kid ever would, might say to that.

The dug-out was still quite dark, the only sign that dawn had arrived being the pale silvery glow of the room's single window. It could hardly be called a window; really it was just a narrow slit cut through the thick sod and covered with oiled paper.

He glanced over at Lou, still sleeping beside him, and felt something flutter inside his chest. She was so beautiful. It hurt Kid that she couldn't see that. Lou lay on her side, her head resting on one bent arm. A few tendrils of dark hair fanned over her cheek. In sleep, Lou's delicate features relaxed, losing the slight tension that always appeared there during her waking hours.

When Kid was small, his brother Jeb had owned a coon hound named Zeke. He was a good dog, but Jeb treated him harshly, often beating Zeke for any failure to behave as his master wished. After Jeb left home, Zeke became Kid's dog. No hound was ever lavished with more affection and gentleness than Kid gave his new best friend. Yet to the end of his days, Zeke would flinch at a hand extended toward him. No amount of petting could completely erase his fear.

Sometimes Lou reminded Kid of that.

He knew Lou's father, the gunrunner who had called himself Boggs, had been a hard man – perhaps a brutal one. But even after Boggs died by Kid's gun, Lou never spoke of him. She was similarly quiet about her mother, her time at the orphanage, and what her life was like after she ran away from that place. Her life, up to the time she joined the riders, was mostly a blank for Kid. But since he preferred to keep his own past to himself, he'd never pressed her for details of hers. Now, looking at her sweet face, almost childlike in sleep, Kid wondered if maybe he should have.

The woodstove had long since burned down to ashes and Lou shivered a little. Without waking she tugged her thin blanket closer around her slim form. Kid ached to slide closer, slip his arms around and pull her close against him. He had known, all too briefly, how it felt to wake up with her nestled against him. It had been a sweeter feeling than he'd ever known … better even than the lovemaking that preceded it. Being that close to Lou every night for the rest of his life was the dream that kept Kid going. He adored her.

Lou stretched now and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," Kid greeted her softly.

She smiled a little shyly, then her eyes widened and she bolted upright. "What time is it?" Her gaze flickered to the cloudy window. "Lord! It's full sun-up!" She scowled accusingly at Kid. "Half the day's gone already. Why did you wake me up?"

"I only just opened my eyes myself," Kid answered, only a little untruthfully.

"Well, git yer tail outta bed," she muttered, scrambling to her feet. "We've got time to make up if we're gonna make it to St. Joe at a decent hour."

Kid frowned. "No time for breakfast?"

Lou rummaged in her saddlebag, pulled out a small chunk of jerky wrapped in paper and tossed it to him. "Here. You kin eat it on the trail." She hastily rolled up her bedroll and tucked it under one arm, then hoisted her saddlebag over one shoulder. "I'm headed to the necessary. I'll meet ya in the barn in five minutes."

"Seems like a man might be entitled to a cup of coffee in the morning," Kid groused to himself as he tucked his leathery breakfast into his shirt pocket and began gathering up his own gear.

* * *

Kid never held on to a sore mood for long, and a couple of hours on the trail were enough to bring back his usual good humor. It was a gorgeous day, the air freshened by the previous night's rain. The combination of brilliant blue sky and rolling green prairie always took the young man's breath away, no matter how many similar panoramas he'd witnessed. He was also cheered by increasing evidence of settlement as they continued east. As much as he loved wide, open spaces, Kid was raised back East, where even among the still-wild and forested mountains one was never far from a settlement. Naturally gregarious, he enjoyed tipping his hat to the other travelers they saw more and more along the road.

Lou, however, kept her gaze firmly fixed on the road, her expression grim and determined. Kid knew the forbidding demeanor was part of the disguise she'd maintained so long it had become second nature to her. The stern look was a necessary pose, since even in boys' clothes and with short-cropped hair, no one who saw Lou's sweet smile could mistake her for anything but the lovely young woman she was. But Kid, who knew Louise McCloud better than anybody, could tell that the tautness of her face and extra rigidity in her ramrod straight pose in the saddle signaled something more. Lou was worried. Trotting beside her, he breathed a silent prayer that the upcoming meeting with the Sisters of St. Joseph would go better than he expected it might.

It was near noon when the outline of the city of St. Joseph, Missouri, appeared ahead of them. Kid always felt a mix of emotions returning to this bustling river town. He was no longer the boy who'd walked into St. Joe little more than a year ago, half-starved and desperate enough to take a beating for the price of a horse. He was a man now, doing a man's work. Kid patted Katy's neck affectionately. He knew vanity was a sin, but he almost hoped he'd run into the stablemaster who had treated him with such contempt back then. He imagined the man's wide eyes and slack jaw at seeing Kid riding tall in a saddle gleaming with silver buckles, wearing a $10 hat and displaying the prestige that came with being a rider for the Pony Express.

There was little time to indulge such fantasies, however, as Lou abruptly turned off the main road and onto a narrower trail leading to the orphanage on the outskirts of town. There was less traffic this way, and Lou kneed Lightning into a canter. Kid saw her lean forward in the saddle in her eagerness to reach their destination.

Soon enough they were riding through the gate of the old, mission-style compound. Lou slid off Lightning even before the mare had completely stopped, and it was up to Kid to grab the horse's bridle as well as Katy's and tie them to the hitching post. Lou was already at the door, pounding to be let in.

Just as Kid stepped onto the wooden porch, the door opened and a young woman dressed head to toe in the black-and-white habit of the Sisters of St. Joseph appeared.

"May I help you?" the nun asked politely.

"Sister Genevieve, I've come for my sister and brother," Lou said.

The other woman looked startled, then peered closer at the visitors. "Louise?"

"Yeah, it's me," Lou answered, rising on tiptoes to peer over the nun's shoulder. "I've come to take Jeremiah and Teresa back with me to Rock Creek. So if you'll just fetch 'em for me …" Her tone was terse, almost hostile, and Kid hurried to diffuse the growing tension. He offered Sister Genevieve his broadest smile. "We'd be much obliged, ma'am."

"I-uh … you should speak with Sister Angelica," the nun stammered. "If you'll just wait here-"

"Ain't no need for talkin' to nobody." Lou pushed past the other woman and stepped inside the building. "Jeremiah! Teresa!" she called.

Wincing inwardly, Kid followed her inside. "I hope you'll excuse Lou," he said to Sister Genevieve, earning him a sharp look from the girl rider. "I'm sure you'll understand she's eager to see her kin after such a long spell apart."

"Of course," the nun replied, "but you see-"

"Miah! Teresa!" Lou called out again. "It's Louise. I've come to get ya!" Attracted by the ruckus, several small heads appeared around corners. Kid didn't recognize any of them as Lou's sister or brother.

"Please, Louise," Sister Genevieve pleaded in a low voice. "If you'll just calm down and come with me-"

"Come on out now! Nothin' to be afraid of!" Lou hollered, ignoring the nun's growing agitation.

"Sister Genevieve!"

At the booming voice that cut through the noise, all of the small, peeping heads ducked out of sight again. Kid turned to see an imposing older woman, clothed in the same austere habit, striding purposefully toward them. He recognized the mother superior of the convent from when he'd come with Lou to return the children to the orphanage after their abduction by Boggs.

The dour woman stopped short at the sight of the visitors, but quickly regained her mask of calm. "Miss McCloud." Her gaze flickered over Lou's unfeminine attire, and Kid saw her lips purse in disapproval. "I'm surprised to see you here. Did you not receive my letter?"

"'Course I got it. Why do you think I'm here?" Lou tried to maintain her air of assurance, but Kid could see she was intimidated by this stern figure. He couldn't blame her; so was he.

"I'm afraid I have no idea," the nun replied calmly. "I would have thought my letter explained things clearly."

"Clear as a button hook in the well water," Lou retorted. "You're plannin' to sell off my sister and brothers to strangers. Well, I ain't gonna let ya. I've come to get 'em."

Sister Angelica's placid features now curved into a scowl. "We do not sell children, Louise. As I explained in my letter, a fine, respectable couple generously offered to adopt them."

"I don't care how high and mighty them folks are. They're not family. I'm their sister, and they belong with me."

"It's already settled, Louise."

Kid watched Lou's already pale face go one shade whiter. "What do you mean?"

"Jeremiah and Teresa are already gone."


	5. Chapter 5

At Sister Angelica's words, Lou seemed to wilt like a prairie wildflower in the August heat. Kid stepped closer, but resisted the urge to put an arm around her.

"Gone where?" There was a quaver in Lou's voice.

"The adoption has already been concluded, and Jeremiah and Teresa have gone to live with their new parents."

"They don't need new parents! They've already got a family. Me!" Lou exclaimed. "What are these people's names, and where do they live?"

Sister Angelica's face was hard as flint. "I can't tell you that, Louise."

"You gotta! You've no right keepin' my kids from me!"

Kid thought the nun's grim countenance softened for just an instant. But she replied sternly, "Yes, I do have a right, Louise. More than a right – an obligation, under the law."

"Since when does the law sanction breaking up families?" Kid was surprised to hear his own voice demand. He'd intended to stay out of Lou's personal business, but the sight of her mournful face and the memory of his own painful break with his brother Jed compelled him to speak.

Sister Angelica turned her eyes to Kid. "Excuse me, Mr. …?"

"Kid."

"Mr. Kidd. Might I ask what your interest is in this matter? Are you Louise's husband?"

"Kid's my friend," Lou answered, and Kid saw the nun's eyebrows rise just a hair. He knew what she was thinking, and it made his blood boil.

"Like Lou said, I'm her friend, and I'm here representing _all_ the folks who care about her back in Rock Creek." From the corner of his eye, Kid sensed Lou throwing him a grateful look, but he kept his own gaze fixed firmly on the nun.

"I'm happy Lou has friends," Sister Angelica replied crisply, "but that does not alter the fact that I am bound by the laws of the state of Missouri. This is not the lawless west, young man. Here we have rules for the common good, and one of those is keeping the details of a legal adoption confidential."

"But how can it be legal?" Lou protested. "I didn't give my all-right to this."

"Although I understand you have always been very protective of Jeremiah and Teresa, you are not their legal guardian – nor could you be, at your age." The nun held up a palm to stifle Lou's retort.

"The fact is, Louise, that when your father was killed" – her glance flickered to Kid for a second – "your brother and sister, and yourself, for that matter, became wards of the state. Your siblings were given into our care, and I was charged with making decisions in the best interest of the children."

"But it ain't in their best interest, damn it!" Lou snapped.

"Miss McCloud!" Sister Angelica's tone was as sharp as a shiny steel blade, and Kid saw Lou gasp and shrink into herself. "Apparently your time on your own has improved neither your temper nor your vocabulary."

Lou flushed furiously and looked down at the toes of her boots. "I'm sorry, sister."

Kid felt his own cheeks grow hot, though with indignation rather than shame. He didn't care how holy this lady claimed to be, she had no right to speak to Lou that way! But before he could speak his mind, he saw the nun's hard glare abruptly soften into an expression of compassion and tenderness. She stepped close to Lou and placed a beefy arm around the girl's thin shoulders.

"I know this is painful for you, Louise. But we cannot fathom God's ways. We can only trust in His divine providence."

Lou nodded, still not looking up. Kid had never seen her look so defeated and lost.

"I have some articles put away that came with you when you, Jeremiah and Teresa were brought here," said Sister Angelica.

"My-my mama's things?" Lou's voice was a soft as a child's.

"Nothing valuable, I'm afraid. Just a few small items. I saved them for you to remember her by."

"Thank you, sister. I would like very much to have them."

Sister Angelica gave Lou an encouraging squeeze, then guided the girl toward an adjacent hallway. "Sister Genevieve, please escort Mr. Kidd to the parlor while I take Louise to my office to collect her things."

Kid would much have preferred going with Lou, but it was clear that wasn't an option. He followed the younger nun, looking over his shoulder as Sister Angelica led Lou in the opposite direction. He could see the nun was speaking quietly to Lou, whose head nodded in response.

Sister Genevieve led Kid down a short hall to a small, comfortably furnished parlor. She gestured toward a velvet-covered settee. "You may wait here for Louise," she said. "I'm sure it won't be long."

As she turned to leave, Kid said, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

She turned back to him, smiling, and it struck Kid that she was very young – perhaps not many years older than Lou and himself.

"I was just wondering … well … you seemed to recognize Lou."

"Yes, I knew Louise very well when she was here. I taught her and Jeremiah. Theresa was still too little to be in school."

"If you know Lou, then you must have seen how she was with them – her sister and brother, I mean."

Sister Genevieve nodded. "Yes. I know she loves them very much."

"It's been hard on Lou – Louise – bein' away from them, working so hard to save up to give them a good life," Kid continued. "And to have them sent away without even a chance to say goodbye … well, it just don't set right with me."

A troubled looked crossed the nun's face. "I know it seems hard, and I can't say I entirely agree with the law in cases like this …" Catching sight of Kid's hopeful look, she shook her head. "But it IS the law. Sister Angelica is bound to obey it, and I am bound to obey Sister Angelica."

"There's really nothing you can do to help us?"

"I'm afraid not."

Kid looked down and cleared his throat. "I never had much religion growin' up," he said quietly. "My pa was a Free Thinker and my ma – well, she knew better than to go against my pa." He raised his eyes to meet the nun's. "But when I signed on with Russell, Majors and Waddell, the hiring agent gave me a Bible. I been reading it, a little every night." He shrugged a little sheepishly. "There's a lot in it that I don't rightly understand. But one thing that sort of stuck with me is the part about doing for other folks like you'd want 'em to do for you."

Sister Genevieve smiled. "The Sermon on the Mount."

Kid nervously rotated the brim of his hat in his big hands. "Well, ma'am, I reckon if I was a young lady who'd had a hard row to hoe all my life, and I lost the only living family I had …. I guess I'd hope someone might do for me the way the Bible says to."

"I sincerely wish I could."

The young cowboy nodded, resigned. "I understand. I wouldn't ask you to go against your conscience."

Sister Genevieve looked startled, and Kid saw her blush. "I-I'm afraid I must go attend to my duties," she stammered. Moving to the door, she cast a quick look over her shoulder at Kid. "Please make yourself comfortable here. I'm sure Sister Angelica and Louise will be along shortly."

"Thank you," Kid responded, but the woman had already left the room, shutting the door behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

Left alone, the express rider stood in the center of the room, shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He considered sitting down on the settee, but a glance at his dusty dungarees convinced him that wasn't a good idea. Instead, he began to make a slow circuit of the room, looking at the various knick-knacks on the shelves and tables lining the walls. Reaching the room's single window, he peered around its starched lace curtain at the view outside. There were a handful of children playing in the courtyard. Beyond the gates, Kid could just make out the substantial buildings of St. Joseph in the distance. He recalled his first-ever glimpse of the town, walking in from the south in shoes tied together with string and soles worn clear through from countless miles walked over rugged roads. He'd been filthy, half-starved and about as low down as a boy could get.

It suddenly occurred to Kid that Lou would have been in St. Joe at that time – perhaps as desperate and lonesome as he was. He might even have passed by her in the jostling throngs at the farmer's market that was going on when he arrived. Had he seen her? Was she just another face in that crowd?

No. He was sure he could have known her even then, the way he had the moment he'd looked into those soft, brown eyes outside the corral in Sweetwater. He could still feel the shock that had felt very like recognition, even though she was practically a stranger. It was as if his heart had whispered, " _There you are! I've been waiting for you."_

That was the first time he'd kissed her, and he felt that same way every time he kissed her after that. It was one of the things he missed most – that strange sense of completion, of having found the other half of his heart.

Kid heard the door open behind him and turned, expecting to see Sister Angelica and Lou. Instead it was Sister Genevieve. She had a wry look on her face.

"You are a very persuasive young man."

"Ma'am?"

She stepped into the room and quietly closed the door. "I was thinking about what you said – about following my conscience. And I recalled another Bible verse, much like the one you referred to earlier." She paused, and a faraway look came into her gentle eyes. "Whatever you do for the least of mine, that also you do to me."

"I … can't say I completely take your meaning, sister," Kid admitted.

The nun crossed to the settee and sat, tucking her feet modestly under the hem of her gown. "I've lived here at the orphanage my whole life," she began, casting a fond look around the room. "I was born in this very parlor, in fact."

"Oh? I … uh … didn't think nuns had … um .." Kid felt his cheeks grow hot, a sensation that only increased when Sister Genevieve chuckled. Then she grew serious again.

"My mother was what is usually termed a 'fallen woman' – though I doubt she was much more than a girl. She was alone and in trouble when she came here. Sister Angelica took her in. Cared for her. After I was born, she went away." Sister Genevieve smiled sadly. "I stayed."

She sighed softly. "I'm grateful for what Sister Angelica did for me and for my mother … and the way things turned out was for the best. I love my life here with my sisters and the children."

Kid nodded, silently encouraging her to continue.

"But I will never know my mother's name. Where she came from. What she looked like." The nun paused and looked down at the floor. "Whether she was sorry to leave me." She looked back at Kid. "As I said, I don't regret how the situation was managed. But still … I wonder sometimes if my mother is still alive, if she's happy. If I have family – perhaps siblings – or if I am as alone in the world as it seems I would be without my fellow sisters here." A look of determination appeared on Sister Genevieve's face. "I don't want that for Louise."

"No, ma'am. I don't either," Kid answered, feeling a flicker of hope.

The nun stood and crossed to him. To his astonishment, she reached down and took hold of his hand. He felt a little prick of panic, wondering what her intentions were and how he could extract himself from a potentially very awkward situation, but she merely placed a small square of paper in his palm and folded his fingers over it.

"I was very fond of Louise," she said. "She is a bright and good-hearted girl. I'd even hoped she might find a home here in our community of sisters, but …"

"I'm not sure Lou – Louise – has quite the right sorta temperament for nunning," Kid replied.

Sister Genevieve laughed again, a light, bell-like sound that reminded Kid of his mother. "I suppose you're right." A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. "But something tells me you're just as glad she isn't."

Kid blushed and studied the toes of his boots.

"I hope you and Louise find what you're looking for," said the nun quietly. "God bless you both." And then she was gone.

Kid barely had time to glance at the paper and stuff it into his shirt pocket before the door opened again and Sister Angelica entered, trailed by Lou. The nun looked grave, and Lou's eyes were dull and red-rimmed. She was carrying what looked like a cigar box in both hands.

"Are you all right, Lou?" Kid asked, hurrying to her side. She nodded and forced a wan smile.

"Louise and I have settled all matters pertaining to her family and her time here," sister angelica said briskly, glancing at Lou. Then she turned her attention to Kid. "Louise informs me it's a long ride back to where you came from in the western territory. I suggested the two of you might stay over here tonight, but she seems to think it important that you start back immediately."

Kid nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I reckon we'd better." He thought the nun looked relieved.

"Then I'll show you out."

She led them back outside, where Lightning and Katy waited, surrounded by a gaggle of excited children. Lou smiled at them and Kid answered their questions as the riders climbed into their saddles. Sister Genevieve appeared in the doorway just long enough to her the children back to their lessons. Soon only Kid, Lou and Sister Angelica remained in the courtyard. The nun reached out and placed a hand gently on Lou's arm.

"God's peace be with you, Louise."

"Thank you, sister," Lou answered in a subdued tone. Kid offered the nun a polite tip of his hat, and the two riders nudged their horses into motion. Kid noticed Lou didn't look back as they cleared the gate. At the fork in the road, Kid directed Katy to the right.

"Hold up, Kid!" Lou called from behind. She pulled up alongside him and nodded in the opposite direction. "That's the way back to Rock Creek."

"We're not goin' to Rock Creek," he answered, allowing a sly grin to spread across his face. He leaned closer to Lou and spoke in a low, but triumphant tone. "We're goin' to St. Paul."


	7. Chapter 7

An attractive young couple stood on the wooden platform, surrounded by dozens of other travelers who waited for the departure of the Great Northern Express. The female half of the duo, Louise McCloud, was absorbed in studying (for the hundredth time) the note Sister Genevieve had slipped Kid. They both knew the contents by heart now: "Mr. & Mrs. James Oglethorpe. West St. Paul, State of Minnesota."

With Lou focused on those magical words, Kid was free to let his admiring eyes drift over her petite frame. Purchasing proper "traveling clothes" had been one of their first stops upon entering St. Joe, and Louise now looked every inch a lady in a simple, bottle green skirt and crisp, white blouse, accessorized with cream-colored kid gloves and a straw poke bonnet with a burgundy ribbon. Kid's gaze skimmed over her slight curves, noting that in the past few months her figure had begun to fill out, become more womanly. She wouldn't pass for a boy much longer.

The cowboy tugged restlessly on the black tie around his own neck, a complement to the dark trousers, silk shirt and pin-striped waistcoat that had replaced his dungarees and cotton work shirt. Their everyday clothes, plus a few other items collected from their saddlebags, were tucked into a brand-new carpet bag purchased for the occasion. It rested now at Kid's feet.

It had taken some effort on Kid's part to convince Lou to book a ticket on the train instead of riding the long distance north. She fretted over the expense, but Kid argued that what it cost them in train fare would be saved in time: by horseback, their destination was more than 10 days away; by express train, they'd arrive in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, tomorrow and catch the first sternwheeler upriver to St. Paul. Louise's anxiety about her sister and brother had finally won her over.

Earlier, after Kid had hurriedly shared the information Sister Genevieve had provided, the two riders had galloped into town, where they hashed out their plans over a celebratory lunch at the Palace Hotel. The next stop had been at the State Bank of Missouri, where each had made withdrawals from the account that Russell, Majors and Wadell deposited into on their behalf from each week's paycheck. Some riders, like Cody, preferred to get their full wages in cash on payday, but usually ended up flat broke before the next pay packet was distributed. Lou and Kid had chosen to receive only a small stipend for living expenses, with the rest going directly into savings.

Kid had tried to insist on paying all their expenses himself, but Lou was adamant. "I'm indebted to you enough already, Kid," she'd insisted. "As it is, I don't know how I'll ever make it up to you for the time and money you've lost already."

Her companion tried not to let his disappointment in her answer show. He wished she realized that nothing – even his own life – was too great a sacrifice to ask from him. Furthermore, the time he'd spent alone with her already was worth the expense he'd incurred.

After finishing their bank business, the riders had split up – Kid to the livery stable to board Katy and Lightning, and Lou to the General Mercantile to start gathering the articles they'd need for the trip. Kid arrived there just in time to see Lou step out of a fitting room in her new costume. He was instantly taken back to a similar occasion, the first time he'd ever seen her dressed up like a girl. That was when she'd been preparing to visit her brother and sister after a five-year separation. Kid was as awestruck by her beauty now as he'd been then.

"What do you think?" she asked, doing a graceful pirouette.

"Damn," he answered, and they both laughed, remembering that same response on the previous occasion.

It had taken only a few more minutes for Kid to get outfitted and their things stowed away in the new valise, and they'd hurried off to the depot in time to catch the 5:00 express, headed north.

Now, waiting for the signal to board, Kid noticed the passing glances of the strangers around them. What did they think when they looked at the two of them, he wondered. In these unfamiliar clothes, in a city where they were unknown, they might be anyone. Newlyweds setting off on a honeymoon trip, perhaps. Or a brother and sister returning home from school for the summer. Most likely, Kid decided, those around them were occupied by with own business and concerns, and didn't spare a thought for the two young people at all.

A man in a smart, red and black uniform and cap suddenly leaned out a doorway at the end of one of the train cars. "All aboard!" he called. The crowd began moving in a slow mass, like cows being herded into the chute of a corral, toward the conductor who waited to take their tickets. Kid scooped up their traveling bag and Lou tucked the all-important paper into the small straw purse she carried. The riders looked at each other, wearing matching grins.

"I guess this is it!" Kid whispered, extending a crooked elbow toward her.

"Looks like," she agreed. She slipped her arm through his and laid a gloved hand on his wrist, and they joined the line to board the train.

* * *

Kid and Lou struggled down the narrow aisle of the passenger car, choosing a seat near the front. The high-backed, leather-upholstered bench seat was narrow and a little worn, but reasonably comfortable. As he settled his large frame next to Lou, Kid cast a look around at their fellow passengers. The other seats were mostly occupied by fancy-dressed gentlemen – businessmen, Kid supposed – with a sprinkling of proud-looking ladies among them. He and Lou were by far the youngest and most simply dressed on the train. Beside him, in the window seat, Lou was practically vibrating with excitement. Unlike Kid, who had to fold his long legs awkwardly to avoid bumping the seat ahead of them, Lou's dainty feet didn't quite reach the floor. Kid suppressed a grin when he noted her rocking her legs gently under her like a child on a swing.

"Well. Here we are," he commented, observing clouds of steam billow past their window. It reminded him of Katy, stomping her feet and snorting as she waited for Kid's signal to take off on a run. It amused him to imagine the big engine at the front of the train feeling similarly impatient to be off and away. They called these contraptions Iron Horses, but they couldn't compare to his Katy. Horse and rider were so in tune with each other that Kid often felt they were a single unit. His beloved mare knew him well enough that he rarely had to issue a spoken command or pull on a rein. Katy simply anticipated what he needed her to do, and did it. He'd like to see this bucket of bolts and belching smoke do _that_ , Kid thought smugly.

Lou leaned over to whisper in Kid's ears. "I ain't never been on a train before. I'm afraid I won't know how to act around all these high-falutin' folks."

Kid gave her a grin. "Me neither."

She pulled back, surprised. "Truly? This is your first time, too?"

He nodded. "Do I look like John Jacob Astor to you?"

She chuckled. "Naw, but you're from back east. They got a lot of trains there, don't they?"

"For those who have someplace to go and the money to pay for it. Neither one applied to me."

An adorable quirk appeared between Lou's eyes as she digested this information. "You seem surprised," Kid observed.

"I guess I am a little. Comin' from the civilized part of the country like you do, you always struck me as, well, kinda worldly-like."

Kid laughed out loud. "Lou, I was never more'n five miles from our place in my whole life until the day I left home."

"Well, I'll be dogged."

They broke out in mutual mirth just as the train lurched forward, pushing them against their seat backs. Lou let out a little squeal and covered her mouth with both hands as the piercing whistle and roar of the churning engine filled the car.

"Sounds like Cody after one too many bowls of Rachel's spicy chili," Kid hollered in Lou's ear, causing the girl to erupt in fresh fits of merriment. Around them, stern-faced gentlemen lowered their newspapers to scowl in their direction. "These city folks are gonna think we're bumpkins," Lou gasped between guffaws.

"We _are_ bumpkins," Kid answered, and was rewarded with the prize he sought: the side-splitting laughter of the girl he loved.


	8. Chapter 8

A few hours were enough to confirm Kid's low opinion of rail travel. The bump and sway of the cars and constant clatter of steel wheels over the tracks were enough to make a man long for a saddle under him and the quiet solitude of the endless prairie.

"These things sure can move," Lou observed. She'd had her face plastered to the glass window since they pulled out of the St. Joe depot.

Kid shrugged. "I reckon Katy could out-pace it in a sprint."

Lou glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled, acknowledging his rightful pride in the fastest mount on the Pony Express service. "Yep, but they don't have to change engines every dozen miles like we do our horses. It just keeps on goin', mile after mile, as long as there's wood and water to feed it." Her expression became thoughtful. "I guess the railroads will run us out of business eventually."

"Pfft," Kid scoffed. "I guess they have their uses, but a train will never take the place of a good horse. They can only move in a straight line! How much good is that?"

"I suppose you're right." Lou turned back to the window. "But it sure is a nice change to see the world flashing by so fast without there bein' a war party on your heels."

The sun was starting to set on the far horizon, and a porter appeared in the aisle with a tray of sandwiches, fruit, slices of pie and cigars for sale.

"Hungry?" Kid asked.

"A little." Lou glanced at the valise between their feet. "I packed our jerky and some hard-tack."

Kid made a face. "I'd rather have one of them sandwiches he's sellin'."

"Payin' for a meal twice in one day, when we've got plenty good grub right here?" Lou shook her head disapprovingly. "I guess you must be an Astor after all."

Kid answered with a playful jab of his elbow. "Come on, Lou. A couple of sandwiches won't break the bank. My treat. Who knows when we'll be living so genteel again? Might as well go whole hog."

Lou considered a moment. "All right. You can buy the sandwiches, if you're so determined to throw away your money." A little smirk appeared on her face. "And I'll buy the pie."

* * *

"I wish I could think of some way to repay Sister Genevieve for her kindness in tellin' us where to find Jeremiah and Teresa," Lou commented between bites of her potted meat sandwich.

"She don't want no thanks. She's very fond of you," Kid answered, using his handkerchief to wipe a bit of peach pie filling from the corner of his mouth.

A wary look appeared in Lou's eyes. "What did she say about me?"

"Just that you're a good-hearted girl who loves her sister and brother. Nothin' I didn't already know."

Lou relaxed a little and Kid wondered, not for the first time, why she seemed so afraid of anyone "gettin' in her business," as she'd accused him of doing more than once. Whatever secrets she had in her past didn't matter to Kid; nothing could change how he felt about her. "She also said you were smart," he added now, "but I already knew that, too."

Lou snorted. "I never had enough real schoolin' to find out if I'm smart or not. That's why I'm bound and determined that 'Miah and Teresa get all the education they can. Maybe even go to college."

"And they will, too. I'm sure of it," Kid assured her. Then a sly look game into his blue eyes.  
"I got the impression that Sister Genevieve was in hopes you'd come back someday and join the convent."

Lou's eyes widened. "A nun? Me?" At his nod she hooted. "That'd be the day! Can you imagine me walkin' around all meek and obedient?"

"Nope. But I reckon you'd be in charge of the place soon enough, and then Sister Angelica and the others would have to be obedient to _you_.

Lou snickered. Then her brow furrowed a little. "I hope Sister Genevieve don't get in trouble for helping us." She bit her lower lip lightly. "Sister Angelica is mighty strict."

"Was she hard on you, Lou?" Kid asked, beginning to feel his hackles rise in her defense.

"Nah. Leastwise, not more than I deserved. I believe sister really does care about all the children at the orphanage – even contrary ones like me. I reckon she has a hard job to do."

Lou reached down and opened their traveling bag. She withdrew the small box she'd taken with her from the orphanage. "Sister Angelica saved these things all these years so we'd have something to remember our ma by," she commented, tugging the lid off the box. "That was a great kindness."

Kid tried not to seem too interested in what was in the box, but he was mighty curious. A sidelong glance revealed what appeared to be a piece of cloth inside. Lou reached in and pulled it out, then laid it out on the seat between them. It was a rectangle of soft, thin gray flannel.

"This is what Teresa was wrapped in when our landlady from the boarding house brought us to the orphanage. That was the day after mama died. Teresa wasn't but six weeks old, just a tiny little thing." She turned back to the box and took out a folded piece of parchment. She unfolded it and set it on top of the baby blanket. It appeared to be some kind of legal document. "My folks' marriage certificate. I don't know why she'd want to keep it, unless it was to prove we kids were got honestly."

Lou frowned and reached into the box yet again. This time she produced a tin whistle. "Jeremiah's. He was barely walking yet, but he'd march around our room at the boarding house, blowin' on this like he was leadin' a parade." She smiled at the memory, but her eyes were sad. "It was his only toy." She set the whistle among the other items. Kid figured the box must be empty, but she reached in and brought out one thing more.

It was small and sparkled darkly in the fading light as Lou held it up between her thumb and forefinger. A ring. The band was gold and set with a small, blood-red stone.

"Your ma's wedding ring?"

Lou made a derisive sound. "Ha! If she ever had such a thing, Boggs stole it. Or more likely, lost it in a card game." She lifted the ring before her eyes, allowing the last rays of sunlight to dance across the gem's facets. "This ring belonged to my grandmother. I never knew her. It was the only thing my ma had of her own mam's, and now it's the only thing I have to remember mine." She studied it a minute, then sighed and placed it carefully back in the box, followed by the whistle, the certificate and the swaddling cloth. Solemnly she closed the box and tucked it back in the valise. "I can hardly wait to show 'Miah and Teresa these things," she said, turning back to the window to watch the last sliver to fun limn the horizon with golden light. Beside her, Kid breathed a silent prayer that she'd get that chance.


	9. Chapter 9

It was full dark outside, and inside the train car the few oil lamps the porter had lit at intervals along the walls gave off only a dim, yellow glow. Kid half dozed in his seat. Around them, most of the passengers had lowered a kind of narrow bunk from the bulkhead above them. Kid offered to pull theirs down for Lou, but after watching a man struggle mightily to hoist his portly wife aloft – a feat not accomplished without a generous display of pantaloons and petticoat – Lou whispered that she preferred to keep her dignity intact. She would sleep sitting up. Now she leaned with her cheek against the window and her eyes closed. Kid figured she was asleep until he heard her murmur, "Will there be snow, ya think?"

"What?" he whispered back.

"Snow. In St. Paul."

"In June? I don't think so."

"Ain't it practically to Canada, though?" Lou opened one eye to look at him.

"I guess it's pretty far north, and I reckon there's not much settled country between it and the border. But I don't think it's cold all year round. I've heard most of the state is covered in pine trees so thick a man can get lost within a dozen yards of his own cabin."

"Can you imagine not being able to see the horizon?" Lou said in an awed voice. "Makes me feel all closed up just thinkin' about it."

Kid didn't answer for a moment. Then: "Virginia's got a lot of trees. 'Specially up in the mountains close by where we lived." He closed his eyes and conjured up a vision of the hazy blue peaks rising over the valley where he spent the first 15 years of his life. "There were pines, but lots of other kinds of trees, too. In the autumn the oaks and maples and chestnuts turn gold and red and sometimes it looks like the whole mountain's on fire. You've seen anything so pretty in your life."

"Mmm. Sounds nice," Lou murmured sleepily. "I'd like to see that some time."

"I'd like for you to see it," Kid whispered back, but he could tell she was already asleep. He carefully removed his suit coat and gently draped it over her, then sat back and closed his own eyes. Sleep did not come immediately, however. Instead, he turned over in his head the maelstrom of emotions his conversation with Lou had stirred up.

What would it be like to bring Louise back to Virginia, to drive proudly with her at his side through the streets of, say, Richmond or Williamsburg or his own little hometown of Luray, in a smart cabriolet drawn by Katy. Heads would turn, that was certain. He imagined how all those who had looked at him and his dirt-poor folks with such contempt – people like Garth Maxwell, whose family owned the plantation next to the Simmons' – would gape at him in awe and envy. Kid was not resentful by nature, but he had his pride … and some slights and humiliations continued to stick in a man's craw for a long time. It would give him a good deal of satisfaction to show how he'd come up in the world. That he was good enough to be worthy of a woman like Louise McCloud. Yes … he smiled at the picture in his head. It might be worth returning just for that.

On the other hand, Kid had left Virginia for a reason.

He hadn't thought of Virginia as home in a long time. He'd left never intending to go back … but telling Lou about his home state had awakened a sharp nostalgia. Kid had loved the green mountains, the lush Shenandoah Valley, the lakes and streams that were scarce in this windswept, mostly treeless prairie country he'd come to.

He also missed the people he'd known there – their warm hospitality, easy laughter, even the languid drawl he'd worked hard to mostly eliminate from his own speech to keep from standing out in Nebraska. They were good, hardworking folks, most of them, not the ruthless, entitled oppressors that the Northern papers increasingly depicted all Southerners to be.

Growing up, Kid had never thought much about slavery; it was just a fact of life on the plantations and farms around where he lived. Kid's family were tenant farmers, not property owners. They barely grubbed a living from their small acreage, and they certainly didn't own any slaves. But though Kid had little contact with the great families of the county, except for the Simmons, from whom they rented their land. But he often encountered slaves in town or along the dusty roads that crisscrossed the valley, and to Kid most of them looked better clothed and fed than himself.

It was only after meeting the escaped slave Ulysses, and later his fellow rider Noah, that Kid began to think about the Slavery Question. He saw how people looked at and treated Noah even in this free territory. He understood that his colored friend as a skilled, hardworking and honest as any of the riders; Noah had dreams like Kid's own: to make something of himself, to own his own land, to marry and raise a family someday. The realization that Noah would not have the freedom to have any of those things in many parts of the country made Kid examine his own beliefs more closely. He found himself moving quickly from indifference to slavery to firm opposition. Kid could honestly say he hoped the practice would be abolished across the South one day, though he understood, as his Northern-raised friends could not, the devastation that would wreak on the region's economy and way of life. The slaves would be free … to starve alongside their white neighbors.

Still, as much as he had come to abhor slavery, Kid remained staunchly opposed to the federal government's intervention in states' affairs. He believe that living in a democracy meant folks got to decide for themselves how they wanted to live, and what they believed. That some men in marble buildings in Washington could dictate how it was going to be for folks they'd never laid eyes on galled him.

The war everybody knew was coming had begun to weigh heavily on Kid's mind. He wouldn't break the law to help the Southern cause as Jed and the Hawk had done … indeed, he'd gone undercover to oppose Hawk's operation as atonement for his brother's crimes. But Kid could never take up arms against his former friends and neighbors, either. At heart he was still a Virginian, he realized with some surprise. He knew that taking up for the South would set him against his best friends, possibly even the woman he loved. He could only hope it wouldn't come to that … but somehow, he was sure it would.


	10. Chapter 10

Kid's large hand was clenched in a death grip around the narrow, wooden deck rail as he watched the muddy Mississippi churn and foam against the hull below him. He and Lou had disembarked the train at the La Crosse station early that morning, and after securing tickets on the packet sternwheeler Ariel, they'd had just enough time to freshen up a bit and enjoy a hearty steak-and-eggs breakfast. It was a decision Kid was now bitterly regretting. His previous maritime experience consisted of a few ferry trips across much smaller bodies of water. And though he was accustomed to the constant up and down motion of horseback riding, it was nothing like the slow rolling and undulating of the Ariel's keel against the powerful current. His stomach was rolling, too, and he felt a cold sweat break out on his brow.

Lou stood next to him, admiring the forested banks across the river even while she continued the grumble she'd commenced the moment they stepped off the train and caught sight of the rough-and-tumble town of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Though the town was said to have nearly 4,000 residents, it was only nine years old and the vast majority of its citizens had arrived within the two years since the railhead had been established there. Apart from the teeming riverfront, La Crosse had the look of a town only half finished. Its roads were rough and muddy and the wood frame commercial buildings were as yet unweathered and streaked with pine sap.

"I can't imagine what St. Paul must be like, if a jerkwater town like La Crosse has a rail station and it don't," she fussed. "What kinda life could my sister and brother have in these sticks? Place is more Indians than white folks, I'll wager." Though she loved their half-Kiowa fellow rider Buck like a brother, Lou had been raised on the plains, where interactions between settlers and natives had always been volatile, and she had her own prejudices.

"Well, it's not like St. Joe is exactly Paris, Lou," Kid answered wearily, conjuring up the fanciest-sounding place he could think of. His head was throbbing and Lou had been complaining nonstop since they stepped onboard. The current was running swifter just here, causing the boat to lurch a little – and Kid's gullet lurched right along with it.

"Ain't the same," Lou insisted. "Folks back in Nebraska are farmers and ranchers and good, honest storekeepers. How the Sam Hill is a body supposed to make a living surrounded by all them trees you talked about?"

"I don't know." Kid pressed this thumbs to his temples. "But I'm sure there's good folks here, same as in Rock Creek."

Lou hrrumphed. "Sure. People who steal innocent children away from their own kin. That's good folks, all right."

Her increasingly shrill tone was beginning to feel like an ice pick in Kid's ear. Couldn't she see he wasn't in the mood for conversation?

"The Oglethorpes didn't know your kids already had a family," he pointed out weakly. The sun dancing across the tops of the waves dazzled his eyes, causing sharp pricks of pain, and he closed them tightly against the sight.

"Are you _defendin'_ those people?" Lou squawked. "I never in a million years thought you-"

"Can't you just stifle for even a minute?" Kid suddenly exploded. He pried open his eyes to see her looking up at him in stunned amazement – an expression that swiftly transformed into icy resentment.

"I-I'm sorr-" Kid started to apologize, but her eyes had turned hard and her mouth was set in a thin line.

"Have it your way," she huffed. "I won't trouble you any more with my company." She turned on her heel and stomped off toward the far end of the deck. Watching her skirt swish away, Kid briefly considered going after her. Then the boat slipped into a long, sideways roll and it was all he could do to keep his trembling knees from buckling.

* * *

Kid had no idea how long he stood there, gulping like a fish, but he was sure he could have ridden to Denver and back in the time it was taking this infernal boat to get to St. Paul. Once or twice, when a choppy current thrust the steamer steeply up, then violently down into the trough of a wave, Kid toyed with the notion of throwing himself over the side to put an end to his misery. In a kind of woozy stupor, Kid failed to notice Lou come up beside him until he heard her voice at his elbow.

"I brought a peace offering."

He turned his head just as Lou shoved an enormous green pickle under his nose. The odor of brine hit him like a boxer's hammy fist, and he gasped. "Oh, God!" he moaned before doubling over the rail and delivering the remains of his breakfast to the fishes. Kid continued to retch for a long time after his stomach was empty. When he finally slid down the railing into a limp heap on the deck, he found Lou kneeling beside him. She pressed something cool and wet to his forehead.

"Why in tarnation didn't you just say somethin'," she scolded.

"S'embarrassed," he gulped. "Didn't want you to think I was a sissy."

"Good lord," she muttered, but her tone was as soft and gentle as the palm she now lay against his cheek. Kid closed his eyes and sat back against the rail. He was dimly aware of Lou sitting down next to him, and a minute later felt something pressed against his parched lips.

"Suck on this," Lou said. "I got it from the lady who sold me the pickle." Kid curled his lip at the mention of the item that had sent him over the edge. "Sorry," she apologized with just a hint of amusement. The sick man was in no mood to put anything more into his mouth, probably for the rest of his life, so he clamped his lips closed tightly.

"Try it," she coaxed. "The lady said it would help."

Reluctantly, because he couldn't deny her anything, Kid opened his mouth wide enough for Lou to slip something inside. It was a lozenge, strong-tasting but not unpleasant, like a piece of ginger candy. He rolled it over his tongue, not really expecting it to quell his stomach, but at least it cut the taste of bile in his throat. To his surprise, in only a few minutes he felt his queasiness beginning to subside. Soon he felt steady enough to open his eyes. He found Lou watching him closely and with evident concern. Kid became aware of her hand on his forearm, stroking gently in a comforting way, and he found the gesture so endearing he thought his heart my burst.

"Feelin' some better?"

He nodded. Then the boat rocked slightly and he groaned. "Don't this bother you at all?"

"Nope. Just hits people differently, I guess." She leaned closer. "But I'll tell you somethin' if you promise not to tell the other boys."

Kid nodded his assent.

An embarrassed little grin played around Lou's rosebud mouth. "The first time I got up on a horse, I upchucked all over myself."

"Yer lyin'."

She laughed. "It's the God's honest truth. Swore I'd never get on one of them again." Then she shrugged and added casually, "'Course, I was only three at the time."

Despite his still-shaky stomach, Kid had to smile. "Well, you sure got over it. You're the best rider I ever saw."

Lou ducked her head shyly. "Thanks. Comin' from you, that means a lot."

Her smile mesmerized him. He figured he could spend the rest of his life just staring into those brown eyes. But after a moment, Lou gave him a playful slug on the arm. "Are you up to going to the top gallery? I heard a fella say we'd be coming into sight of St. Paul soon."

"Thank God." Kid allowed Lou to help him to his feet. He never wanted to look weak in front of her, but had to admit that being doted over a little felt nice. Lou would make a wonderful mother someday, he was sure, and he dreamed it would be him standing by her bedside when her first little one was placed in her arms.

Soon after climbing the narrow ladder to the open-air gallery on top of the wheelhouse, Kid was sorry they hadn't come sooner. The breeze was fresher up there, and great gulps of cool air did wonders for settling his stomach. He soon found himself enjoying the view of the wide river ahead and the talk, densely wooded bluffs on both banks. They shared the river now with other traffic: small fishing craft, stubby towboats and even another large paddle-wheeler, the Alex McGill, that blew its steam whistle as it passed by.

Kid sensed a growing excitement as more and more passengers joined them. There was a bend in the river ahead, and as the Arial rounded it, the new capital of the new state of Minnesota came into view. A cheer went up from the assembled watchers, and Kid found himself joining in, though he didn't know why. Perhaps it was the sheer unexpectedness of it – the sudden parting of the treeline to reveal a collection of buildings spilling down from the high, rocky bluff to the water's edge. Young it might be, but St. Paul was clearly a city on the rise.

The most prominent feature on the skyline was a huge structure that Kid figured must be a mill. He could see houses, many of them quite grand, lining the top of the ridge. Far below, the riverfront was abuzz with activity. Boats of many sizes nestled along the banks, and the wharf thronged with people hurrying in all directions.

Kid nudged an awestruck Lou. "Still think this is an uncivilized backwater?"

She threw him a wry look. "We'll see."


	11. Chapter 11

Three-quarters of an hour later, Kid and Lou stood amid the bewildering hubbub of the docks. Around them, men on carriages shouted: "St. Paul Hotel!" "The Lexington!" "Winslow House!"

"What do we do now?" Lou asked, shrinking a little against Kid as they were jostled from all sides by the crowds surging around them.

"Find a room someplace, I suppose."

"We ain't stayin' long enough to need a room," Lou objected. "Let's just get my young 'uns and hit for home."

"It's not that easy, Lou. We don't even have an address for these Oglethorpes. It'll take some time to track 'em down. Besides, the packet back to La Crosse doesn't leave 'til tomorrow afternoon anyhow."

"Well, can't we just camp out someplace?" Lou persisted. "I hate to spend the money on a hotel."

Kid felt his jaw clench. Louise McCloud really could be so exasperating sometimes. "This isn't the prairie, Lou. It's a genuine city. Even if we did find a place to stretch out, sleepin' in the middle of all these strange folks would be dangerous – 'specially for a lady."

"I'd be safe with you," Lou countered, and Kid felt a glow of pride at her trust in him. Seeing he wasn't going to give in, the girl rider sighed and gave in. "I s'pose you're right. I just don't want to think about how much money we've laid out already."

"Aren't your sister and brother worth it?"

"'Course they are!" Lou retorted hotly. "To _me_. I'd spend my last cent to get them back safe and sound. But they aren't your kin, Kid. You shouldn't have to run through all you've saved up on account of my troubles."

"I told you before, it's no hardship," Kid answered through gritted teeth. Why was she so reluctant to accept his help? Was it because she didn't want him to feel he had any claim on her affections? The thought almost made him laugh. He was such a fool for the girl, he'd sell his soul for her benefit and never ask a thing in return.

As if reading his thoughts, she said, "I hope you know how grateful I am to ya, Kid. I don't know what I'd do without you here." She slipped her arm through his and Kid's irritation melted away. He never could stay mad at Lou. He loved her too much.

They came upon a coach that didn't appear connected to any particular hotel.

"You and the missus looking for a ride into town?" the driver called down to them.

"Can you recommend a good boarding house?" Kid responded. "Not too fancy, but clean and safe."

The driver nodded. "You want the Murdock House. I can take you."

Kid helped Lou into the open coach and sat beside her on the leather seat.

"What brings you folks to St. Paul?" the driver called over his shoulder as the buggy began its winding ascent of the bluff. "Homesteading, are you?"

"No, just visiting," Kid called back.

"I hear there's 60 wagons leaving day after tomorrow for the new counties up north," returned the driver. "Thought you might be joining them."

"Not this trip."

Now Lou leaned forward. "Actually, we're here looking for someone. Do you know a James Oglethorpe?"

The man cocked his head, considering. "Can't say I do."

Lou sank back on the seat. "I was hopin' you would," she admitted.

Their driver laughed. "Missus, there's 10,000 people living in St. Paul, and another 3,000 across the river in Minneapolis. I guess I can't be expected to know them all."

"Ten thousand?" Lou gasped. "Kid, how are we ever going to find the Oglethorpes in this place?"

"They kin of your'n?"

"No," Kid began, but Lou cut him off. "They stole my little sister and brother," she exclaimed. "We heard they live in St. Paul, so we're here to fetch my kids back."

"Stole your babies? That's not right!" the man commiserated. By now the coach had reached the top of the bluff and turned onto a broad thoroughfare. Horses, wagons and pedestrians created a dizzying tumult of activity. The street was faced with two- and three-story wood frame buildings. The driver pulled up in front of one of these. "This here is the Murdock House," the driver announced. "You'll find a comfortable bed here."

Kid climbed out of the carriage and helped Lou step down. As he stepped to the front of the coach to pay the fare, the driver gave Lou, standing outside the entrance looking mournful, a sympathetic look. "You might stop by the newspaper office," he said. "I believe the editor of the Globe keeps pretty close track of comings and goings. He might know your man Oglethorpe."

"Much obliged," Kid answered for both of them.

"Sure hope you find your sister and brother," said the driver, before clucking to his horse. With a nod and a tip of his cap, he drove away.

Kid picked up their valise. "C'mon. Let's get ourselves a room, then set about finding Teresa and Jeremiah."


	12. Chapter 12

Kid set their bag in the middle of the wide feather bed, suddenly feeling as shy and awkward as he had that night in Redfern when he and Lou had shared a bed for the first time. This would not be a repeat of that memorable experience; even if Lou were willing, Kid was determined to do things the right way this time. Kid had resolved that if Lou ever gave him a second chance, he'd court her program, like he should have from the beginning. He wanted her to understand that, as much as he enjoyed being with her in that way, he wanted more than just a warm, supple body in the dark.

He wanted a lifetime.

The desk clerk hadn't batted an eye when they both registered under Lou's name and tromped up the stairs to room 201 together. Upon entering, Lou had gone straight to the window, where she stood looking out at the city skyline. Kid joined her there.

"Seems pretty hopeless, don't it," Lou said dismally.

"Nah. Like the cabdriver said, the folks at the newspaper might know somethin', and if not, we'll think of something else."

She nodded, and Kid noticed how pale and drawn she suddenly looked. "Why don't you lie down a spell, and then we'll go out and get something to eat."

Lou looked down and fingered the hem of her bodice. "To be truthful, Kid, after two days in these clothes, I don't think I'm fit to go out in polite society." She bit her lower lip. "I guess I might as well put on my old clothes. Ain't nobody here I got to impress." She smoothed her palms over her skirt. "Sure was nice pretendin' to be a lady while it lasted, though."

"If you don't feel up to going out for supper, I can get something for us to eat here in the room," Kid offered.

Lou smiled weakly. "That might be best. While you're gone I'll fill up the wash basin and rinse some things out."

"I'll be back in a little while," Kid said, resisting a sudden, wild impulse to kiss her forehead. As strong as she was – or pretended to be – there was a vulnerable side to Louise McCloud that brought out a fiercely protective streak in Kid. Seeing her so sad and hopeless made him want to gather her in his arms and never let go. More than that, he wanted to give Lou everything she ever dreamed of, and tomorrow he would move heaven and earth to find those children for her. But that was no help tonight.

Suddenly Kid had an idea. "You rest up a bit," he said, suddenly in a hurry to leave her. "I'll be back before you know it."

* * *

Looking uneasily around him, Kid wondered whatever possessed him to think this was a good idea. Surrounded by racks of delicate, frothy garments, Kid had to squeeze his arms tight against his broad frame just to maneuver among the rows of frilly goods. Clearly Miss Penelope's Emporium had not been designed for a male clientele.

"May I help you?"

The woman who approached Kid from behind the counter was wispy of figure and angular of face. Penelope herself, he presumed.

"I-uh-I'm looking for a present. For a young lady."

"We have some lovely new hats, direct from Paris," she suggested in a reedy, parched sort of voice.

"I was thinking of something a little more … substantial. But fancy. Like a …" Flustered, he frantically tried to find the word he wanted. "A … gown?"

"A nightgown?"

Kid blushed scarlet. "No, ma'am! Nothing to sleep in, or anything like that. I was thinking more of something a girl would wear for dancin'."

The woman's thin lips curled into a smile. "Ah, a ball gown! Oh, I'm sure we can help you with that." She hurried to a rack near the back of the store and began thumbing through the many-colored, diaphanous garments hanging there.

"Does the lady wear a hoop?" she called over her shoulder.

Kid tried to imagine the diminutive cowgirl trying to negotiate one of the enormous, bell-shaped skirts that were just coming into fashion when he left Virginia. "Uh, no, ma'am. I don't think that's quite her style. She's real little."

"All right. What's her coloring?"

Kid was taken aback. "Why, she's a white girl, same as me. That is, her and me, we're both white folks."

"I assumed that, young man," Miss Penelope said primly. "I meant, what color is her hair, her eyes? Is her complexion fair or rosy?"

Fighting a rising panic, Kid racked his brain for answers, though he knew Louise's features as well as his own. "Her hair is … um … brown. Darker than a buckskin, but lighter than a buffalo."

The lady raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

"And her eyes …" He smiled a little dreamily, thinking of them. "Her eyes are brown, too. Like caramel candy, or coffee with a splash of heavy cream stirred in."

"And her complexion?"

"Kinda pale. 'Cept when she's really mad. Then she gets these bright red spots right here," He gestured toward the apples of his cheeks.

"What colors does she favor in her dress?"

Kid thought back on the few times he'd seen Lou as Louise. "Blue, I think. But she looks beautiful in any color."

The saleswoman smiled at his obvious infatuation. "Is this for a special occasion? I believe you mentioned dancing."

"To be honest, it's kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Lou – Louise, I mean – she's feeling kinda low. I thought a night on the town might help. We're from Nebraska Territory, and we don't get much opportunity to gussy up back home." He paused, then added, "Maybe you could make a recommendation for someplace real nice to go to supper?"

"Hm," the lady hummed, still shuffling through the dress rack. "If I were a young lady who needed cheering up, I think I'd like an evening at the Winslow Hotel."

"Do they have dancing?" Kid knew how much Lou enjoyed that particular form of exercise, and how _very_ much he enjoyed the opportunity to hold her in his arms on a dance floor.

"Yes, they have dancing," Miss Penelope answered, stifling a smile. "And this," she added, turning around with a flourish, "is exactly the dress for your young friend."

Gazing at the exquisite article she held up in front of her, Kid couldn't help but agree.


	13. Chapter 13

"I was startin' to think you got lost." Lou stood at the dressing table with her back to Kid as he entered. He could see her reflection in the tall mirror that hung over the table, and saw that she had evidently just finished washing her petticoat and was engaged in wringing it out over the basin. Her skirt and blouse were already draped over the curved, brass frame at the foot of the bed along with a pair of snowy white bloomers. Her dungarees and work shirt were draped over a low table next to the room's divan. Lou had changed into the nubby wool long johns that the riders wore under their work clothes and to bed every night. Observing her slim form in the underwear, tattletale gray from many washings and a bit droopy in the drawers, Kid thought she'd never been more alluring.

"Sorry. Took longer than I expected."

Lou folded the petticoat out flat on the table and turned around, and her face registered surprise at the sight of Kid standing before her with both hands behind his back. "Where's the food?"

"I decided we should go out after all."

Her eyebrows knit in consternation. "Huh? Kid, I can't go out. Everything I got to wear is damp."

"That's not a problem." Grinning, he pulled a large, flat box from behind his back and held it out to her.

"What's that?"

"Open it and see."

Uncertainly she took it from his hands and carried it over to the bed, where she sat down and set the box down next to her.

"Go ahead," Kid urged.

She untied the string that held it closed and pulled off the lid. The contents had been carefully wrapped in tissue paper, which she pushed aside. She stared into the box. Then she raised her eyes and stared at Kid. "What is this?"

He was too excited to notice the edge in her voice.

"Take it out and look at it."

She reached into the box and came up with a fistful of filmy, pink fabric. Now she glared at Kid with an expression black as a thundercloud. "Have you lost your ever-lovin' mind?"

Her would-be benefactor cringed a little under her blistering look. This was not the reaction he'd expected – though, suddenly recalling how she'd responded when he had moved her out of the bunkhouse back in Sweetwater, he realized he probably should have. Louise McCloud did not enjoy surprises.

"It's just a dress, Lou."

"Just a dress? There's enough cloth here to cover a wagon! Must've cost a week's wages!"

It had cost him nearly two, but he wasn't going to correct the point now.

Lou crammed the lid back on the box and pushed it toward Kid, who'd taken refuge behind her bloomers on the bed frame. "Take it back."

Kid looked down at the box. A pitiful little tuft of pink fabric stuck out from underneath a corner of the lid. Lou, still glowering, nudged the box toward him again.

Suddenly Kid was angry.

"No."

"No, what?"

He folded his arms defiantly across his chest and stepped out from behind the laundry. "No, I ain't takin' it back. I got it as a present for you, so it's yours now. You can throw it out the window or use it as a scrub rag, I don't care. But I'm not returning that dress."

She blinked back at him, apparently never having considered he might refuse. Then he saw her chin start to quiver and she cast her eyes down to the calico quilt. "I just don't know why you'd do such a thing," she said quietly. "I offered to go out in my old clothes. Are you ashamed to be seen with me out in public in pants?"

"No!" Kid protested. "That's not it at all." He moved around the bed and sat down next to her. "Honest, Lou, I just wanted to do something nice for you. Take you out for a good meal to take your mind off things for a little while."

She hesitated, as if trying to decide if he were making fun, but his evident distress must have convinced her of his sincerity. She mustered a shy smile. "That's awful sweet of ya, Kid. But a dress this fancy? When am I ever going to wear such a thing back in Rock Creek?"

"You talk like you're 75 years old and ready for a rockin' chair," Kid teased. "You've got all kinds of fancy parties and dinners ahead of you yet."

Lou gave him a skeptical look, but he picked up the box and set it in her lap. "Come on. Try it on at least." The twinkle in his blue eyes softened to a pleading expression. "Please?"

She rolled her eyes, but he could tell she was weakening. "You really are the most bull-headed cowboy …" Shaking her head, she opened the box again and lightly fingered the gauzy material. "All right. But I'll look mighty funny in this fancy thing with my long johns stickin' out the bottom."

"I – er – asked the sales lady to put in everything you might need," Kid stammered, feeling his ears grow hot. "I reckon there's … stuff… underneath the dress."

"Good lord," she grinned, then looked up at him expectantly. "Well?"

"What?"

She uttered an aggrieved sigh. "Obviously I'm not gonna change with you here gapin' at me. Get out in the hall."

"Aw, I won't peek."

Lou pointed imperiously toward the door. "Git."

Kid shrugged and beat a retreat into the corridor. He'd commenced to pacing back and forth in front of the closed door when a burly man exited a room a few doors down and walked toward him. Kid immediately stopped pacing and lounged against the wall with a deliberate casualness, as if he were just taking the air.

"Lover's quarrel?"

"Huh?" Kid looked at the stranger in surprise.

The man smirked and clapped Kid on the shoulder as he passed. "Don't worry, sonny. A handsome young buck like you will turn her around soon enough."

As soon as the man disappeared into the stairwell, Kid approached the door and knocked gently. "Lou? You about ready?"

"Just a minute!" came the muffled reply. Kid started counting, and when he reached 92 seconds, Lou called from behind the door. "All right. You can come in. Just don't you laugh!"

Kid opened the door … and beheld a vision from his dreams. Lou stood in the middle of the room, looking shy and hopeful and breathtakingly beautiful in her new gown. Made of pale, pink organdy, the dress had a wide neckline that skimmed the edge of her shoulders; a flounce of creamy lace accentuated her modest bosom. Below the fitted waist, the very full skirt cascaded in a series of five flounces, each trimmed with the same delicate tatting as the bodice.

"Do I – do I look all right?"

"All right? You're only the prettiest gal in this whole world."

She giggled bashfully. "You've got a silver tongue, cowboy." She completed a quick twirl, causing the skirt to billow and float with a light swishing sound. She laughed delightedly. "All this fabric and gew-gaws, and yet it's so light and cool, I almost feel buck naked." Turning to observe herself in the dressing table mirror, she appeared to be looking at a stranger. "I feel like a princess."

"You look like one, too."

At his ardent tone she ducked her head and ran a hand self-consciously through her hair – a familiar gesture Kid had always found irresistible. Her hair had grown out some since he'd first met her, but wasn't long enough yet to put up. So Lou had tucked the chin-length strands behind her ears, allowing the tresses to frame her heart-shaped face. Kid saw a sparkle on her finger as she smoothed her hair.

"You're wearing your mama's ring," he observed.

"I thought it would look nice with the dress," she answered self-consciously.

"It does. I think you're ma would be right proud of how you look."

Lou ducked her head in her self-conscious way, then turned back to Kid. "Well, where are we gonna eat?"

"You mean you'll go out with me after all?"

She pointedly arranged her expression to look put-upon. "After all the fuss I had climbing into this get-up, I should at least get a square meal out of it."

"I'd be right honored to accompany you, your highness," Kid said, tucking one arm behind his back as he bowed deeply.

"Good lord." Lou stepped forward and gave the back of his head a firm push toward the floor. "I still think you've gone crazy."

She swept past him, then paused at the door to glance over her shoulder. "But I kinda like it."


	14. Chapter 14

It was the biggest and the brightest room Kid had ever been in. The Sterling Room at the Winslow House was papered with gilded wallpaper and hung with crystal chandeliers that sparkled with reflected gas light. The two riders had been shown to a small table covered with a white, linen tablecloth and set with gleaming silverware. Other elegantly dressed diners sat at tables around them.

Studying the large, ornately printed menu card, Kid felt a rising sense of unease. He peered over the top of his card and saw Lou peeking back over hers with a perplexed expression that mirrored his own.

"I'm having a little trouble deciding what to order," Kid admitted.

"Me, too."

They both dropped their eyes back to their menus a moment. Then Lou set hers down on the table. "Can you make heads or tails outta this?"

Kid shook his head. "It's not written in English, is it? Leastwise, I never saw so many o's and u's in anything I read before."

"What do we do?" Lou squeaked as a waiter in black tie and tails approached their table.

"Just point at somethin'. It's got to be edible, whatever it is."

The waiter paused beside the table. "Would monsieur and madam wish to consult the sommelier this evening?"

"The summer-yay?" Kid stammered. "No, I-I don't think so."

Their server frowned. "Are you quite sure? Our cellars contain many fine French wines and champagnes."

"Oh! I like champagne!" Lou exclaimed.

Kid wondered when she'd ever had such a thing before. But he was determined to please her. "We'll have a bottle of that, then."

"Very good, sir. And have you selected your entrée?"

"We came in that door," Lou responded, pointing, then flushed pink when the waiter smirked.

"I meant, have you decided what you would like to order?"

"Ah … yes," Kid answered, slightly miffed at this fellow so clearly looking down his nose at them. He assumed an air of authority as he stabbed randomly at a line on the menu. "I'll have that."

"The _Huitres au Naturel_ ," the waiter repeated in a fluid accent. "Excellent choice. And for the lady?" He looked at Kid as if expecting him to give Lou's choice, too. But she jumped in on her own behalf.

"I'll have this one," she declared, holding the menu up for the waiter to take note of.

The waiter's eyebrows lifted a hair. " _Escargots a la Bourguignonne_? Madam has adventurous tastes."

"Uh, I … I had this last time I was in New York City, and just wondered if the scargoe here is as good."

Another smirk from the uppity server. "I'm sure you won't be disappointed." He briskly collected their menu cards, gave them a curt bow and turned on his heel.

"I don't seem to recall you mentioning that New York trip," Kid goaded.

"Stopped off on my way back from Ft. Laramie last month. Took a sorta roundabout route."

Kid leaned over the table to speak confidentially to his dinner companion. "What do you suppose he meant by adventurous tastes?"

Lou shrugged, then grinned. "Maybe I have to shoot and skin whatever it is myself. Too bad I left my holster back at the hotel."

Another man approached. This one wore a red jacket and had a white napkin draped over his arm. He carried a silver try, on which stood a silver bucket containing a bottle and also two wide, shallow glasses with thin stems. "Your champagne," he announced.

He set the tray on the table, then deftly pulled the bottle from the bucket – which Kid observed was half-filled with shaved ice – and wiped the damp glass with the napkin. Next he peeled back a piece of gold foil that covered the top of the bottle, revealing a kind of wire cage around the cork. Kid decided a fellow might die of thirst waiting for this performance to end as the wine steward carefully unwound the wire, then wrapped his fist around the neck of the bottle and tugged gently on the cork. It exited the bottle with a soft pop. He quickly poured a golden, effervescent liquid into each of the glasses and set one glass in front of Lou, and the other in front of Kid.

The young man was mesmerized by the tiny bubbles rising through his glass, didn't notice the waiter still standing next to the table until the server uttered a pointed, "Ahem."

Kid looked up.

"Were you going to taste the champagne, sir?"

"I thought I'd wait and wash down my supper with it, if it's all the same to you."

The waiter made a little choking sound. "Very good, sir." He scooped up the tray and tucked it under his arm. Like his predecessor, he executed a little bow before leaving.

"Quite a place that has to have two different people serve you your food and your drinks," Kid observed, reaching for his glass.

"Wait!" Lou blurted.

Kid's glass stopped halfway to his mouth. "What's the matter?"

"There's a special way you're supposed to drink this." She scooted her chair halfway around the table, in closer proximity to Kid. Then she picked up her glass delicately and leaned forward, threading her arm around Kid's. He was forced to lean toward her, too, to allow them both to bend their arms enough to bring the rims of their glasses to their lips.

"After all this contortin', I believe I could get a job as an acrobat with one of those traveling shows Cody is so fond of," Kid grunted.

"Watch out for the bubbles," Lou cautioned. "They tickle."

Kid managed to take a sip from his glass. As Lou predicted, the energetic bubbles breaking at the surface made his nose twitch. The drink itself tasted a lot like white wine, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. He wasn't sure he liked it, but Lou sure seemed to. She was giggling into the rim of her glass.

"What's so funny?"

"You. Ya look like yer wrestling a steer."

Kid flexed his bicep uncomfortably. "Do we gotta drink the whole bottle this way?"

"Nah. Just the first sip." Lou untangled her arm from his and pushed her chair back to her side of the table.

"You seem to know a lot about this stuff," Kid observed.

Lou set her glass down and stared into it. "I had it once before, is all." Something in her expression told Kid not to press the issue. Instead, he took another sip from his own glass. He thought he liked it a little better this time. "Makes a change from sarsaparilla," he observed, and that made her smile again.

"We're lucky Teaspoon isn't here to see us," Lou commented. "You know how strict he is about the company rules."

Kid nodded. All the Pony Express riders had been required to sign an oath to abstain from alcohol while in the employ of Russell, Majors and Waddell. Granted, it was a regulation regularly flouted by many of the riders, though Kid generally toed the line. Now he shrugged. "We're not on duty, and I don't imagine we're likely to tear up the town on this stuff."

"Careful. It might have a bigger kick to it than you think."

Just then yet another server appeared at the table. This one carried a larger tray than the last. He deftly transferred a covered dish from the tray to each of Kid and Lou's places.

" _Huitres au Naturel_ ," said the server, lifting the cover off Kid's plate with a flourish.

" _Escargots a la Bourguignonne!"_ he declared, pulling off the lid of Lou's dish even more dramatically.

Then he was gone.

Kid looked down at his plate. Lou looked down at hers.

"What did _you_ get?" Lou asked.

Kid picked up his fork and poked at his dish tentatively. "I'm not exactly sure." He placed his hands around the rim of the plate and gave it a little shake, frowning as the gelatinous, gray lumps jiggled a little inside their half-shell cradles. "Seems a mite undercooked." He set his fork down again and looked at Lou. "How 'bout yours?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I'm pretty sure I saw Rachel picking this very thing off the underside of the cabbage leaves the other day." She held her plate at eye level and squinted at the snails closely. Her gaze flickered to Kid's and she raised her eyebrows. "Think I should try to make friends with it?"

Suddenly both riders were laughing. Lou set her plate down and pushed it toward the center of the table. "I'm sorry, but I just can't eat that, Kid." Snickering, she tried to regain some semblance of composure, and nearly succeeded until her date suggested, "Want mine?" Then both riders doubled over again.

The very dignified fellow who had taken their orders originally now approached, looking stern. "Is there something amiss with your meals?"

"They're real … interestin'." Kid gave Lou a wink across the table. "But I believe we're ready for dessert."


	15. Chapter 15

Kid leaned back in his chair and watched Lou smile with satisfaction as she gently patted her belly. Their dinner plates had been whisked away, and in their place were several smaller plates littered with the crumbs of the sweets they had selected from the dessert cart. Kid had refilled their champagne coupes twice and was feeling a pleasant warmth spreading out from his innards. He wouldn't call himself drunk, exactly, but he certainly was … relaxed. Lou was flushed and giggling, and her eyes were soft and a little drowsy, and Kid decided no woman had ever looked more enticing in the whole history of the world.

The waiter brought the bill, and the figure at the bottom was enough to sober Kid up some: $28.97 for the two of them. Rachel bought groceries for the whole month for less. But looking across at a smiling and happy Louise McCloud, Kid decided it was a bargain at twice the price. He rose and helped Lou to her feet, then offered his arm.

"Thank you," she said, looking up into his eyes with an expression he used to know well, but hadn't seen in a long time. Recognizing that bright, admiring look now caused Kid's heart to leap into his throat. He'd lived in hope these last weeks that she might someday learn to care for him again. Suddenly, in this fantastical setting, it seemed possible that his dream might come true.

"This has been a magical evening," Lou murmured, leaning a little on his arm for balance. "It was real nice of you to do it for me, Kid."

"And it's not over yet," he promised.

"Whaddya mean? Aren't we goin' back to the hotel?"

"The night is young." He steered a course between the tables toward a large archway at the far side of the room. As they neared it, a sound of string instruments could be heard from the other side. Lou looked at Kid and he gave her one of this toothsome smiles. "We haven't been dancin' yet!"

The ballroom they entered was even larger than the dining room. The walls were hung with thick, crimson-colored velvet draperies. In place of tables, there were richly upholstered chairs lining the perimeter of the gleaming, intricately patterned parquet dance floor. Kid had never been in a castle, but he imagined this must be what they looked like. The source of the music, a quartet of violins, viola and cello, was arranged on a small dais across from the dance floor. A dozen or so elegantly dressed couples were turning in graceful circles to a waltz.

"This music's not so lively as our dances back home," Lou whispered.

"It's got the same steps, though. I suppose you just move a little slower is all." He clasped Lou by the hand and pulled her onto the floor. "Let's give it a whirl." Kid couldn't help feeling a flush of pride to be escorting the most beautiful lady in the room. He held Lou's right hand in his left, and lay his right hand gently on her waist. Smiling shyly, Lou rested her palm on Kid's broad shoulder. They swayed in place a few seconds, getting a feel for the music and each other, then began to move.

It couldn't be said they were the most skilled dancers on the floor that evening, but Kid was sure no one enjoyed the experience more. He and Lou never left the floor, moving from waltz to polka to schottische. After a high-spirited gallop that left them both breathless and laughing, Kid suggested, "Let's get some air."

The couple skirted the dance floor to a set of French doors that led to a small courtyard surrounded by a low, gray stone wall. The evening air was cool and refreshing after their exertions and it was a relief to stroll side by side, admiring the gaslights of the city twinkling like fireflies through the trees.

"Sure is pretty," Lou breathed. "I've never been much for city life, but it does have its attractions."

Kid, who was admiring the play of moonlight on Lou's delicate profile, was inclined to agree. Inside, the musicians had struck up another slow waltz. Something about the tune tweaked a memory in Kid. "this reminds me of the song they were playing the first time we ever danced together."

Lou cocked her head to listen to the faint melody that floated on the light breeze. "It does kinda sound like it," she agreed.

Kid offered her his upraised hand. "You rested up enough to give it another go?"

"I reckon I can manage."

They faced enough and stepped into one another's arms. There was no awkwardness now, as there had been that first time. They moved in perfect synch, as finely in tune as the instruments that made the music they danced to. And if Kid held her a little closer than custom dictated, there was no one else there to censure them. Sighing, Lou let her cheek angle to rest against his chest. Gradually their dance steps slowed until they were barely moving, simply swaying gently in place. Kid closed his eyes, letting the sensation of having Lou so near wash over him. He felt a little light-headed, almost as if he were floating a few feet above the ground.

And then … Lou lifted her head to nuzzle his neck, just at that spot behind his ear that drove him crazy. He released his left hand so he could wrap both arms around her slender waist, drawing her against him. Her arms slid over his chest and curled around his neck. With a little groan he turned his face to capture her lips with his in a kiss that increased in intensity as it went on. Lou molded herself against him, generating a stab of heat wherever their bodies connected. Her hands slipped into his hair as she strained against him, eager for even more contact. Kid was lost to the world beyond them. It felt so familiar – the rush of fire in his core, the sweet, aching need that caused him to lower his hands to her hips and press her even closer. As the kiss deepened, Lou made a soft, almost desperate little sound. She tasted sweet, like chocolate or … champagne.

Suddenly Kid broke the kiss and pulled back from her. "Wait."

Still caught up in the moment, Lou seemed unaware of his sudden discomfort. Her hand on his neck pulled him down toward her again, her lips teasing his as she sighed his name. "Kid …"

"No," he mumbled thickly, "We gotta stop this, Lou." He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back.

Lou looked up at him, her expression dazed, her pupils blown large with arousal. "What's the matter?" she panted, and she looked so lush and inviting that Kid very nearly forgot his resolve. Then another whiff of stale champagne wafted between them.

"It's not that I don't want to, Lou. But neither one of us is exactly thinkin' straight at the moment."

"What're ya talkin' about?" Now Kid noticed a distinct slur in her voice.

"We've had a bit to drink tonight. I can feel it, and you're so tiny, it's bound to have even more effect on you."

Lou suddenly placed both palms on Kid's chest and pushed hard. "Are you sayin' I'm drunk?" She staggered back a step or two. Kid grabbed her as she stumbled and set her carefully on her feet.

"I'm just sayin' you wouldn't want to, well, do anything you might regret later. And I'm not about to take advantage of you in that way."

The girl rider drew herself up to her full five-foot-three-inches and tilted her chin upward haughtily. "Fine. If that's the way you feel." She started to turn away, then reeled back and jabbed Kid's chest with her index finger. "You know, Kid, I'm beginnin' to think Jimmy's right about you. Yer so straight and narrow, when you turn sideways you clean disappear." She put a hand to her mouth and giggled at her own wit.

"When did Jimmy say that?" Kid demanded, feeling his hackles rise. "I s'pose he's been tellin' you I'm not good enough for ya, too."

She cocked her head with an air of indifference. "Actually, the topic of you has never come up between us."

"Yeah? Well, just what do you two talk about?" Kid felt himself getting worked up, but was powerless to stop. Jimmy Hickok was a friend, but there had been an undercurrent of tension between the two men since Kid and Lou had started keeping company, a subtle hostility that was only exacerbated by the lovers' break-up. Kid couldn't help thinking Jimmy had something to do with Lou refusing his proposal.

"Ain't none of your beeswax what we talk about – or what we do, neither."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you've got no right minding how I live my life anymore, Kid, in case you've forgotten." She turned on her heel and started to march a little unsteadily back toward the ballroom.

"Damn it, Lou!" Kid lunged forward and caught her by the forearm just as another couple stepped through the French doors into the courtyard. They stopped short at the sight of Kid and Lou's angry expressions.

"Is there some trouble here?" The male member of the party asked, leveling a warning gaze at the young cowboy.

He instantly released his hold on Lou's arm and stepped back from her. "No, no trouble. We were just leaving. Isn't that right, Louise?"

Lou, who looked as mortified as Kid felt, nodded. "Yes," she said softly. "I think it is time we were going back."

Kid offered her his arm, and she took it. Under the judging eyes of their witnesses, the two riders walked quietly back inside.

By hired coach, the distance between the Winslow Hotel and the Murdock House was just a few blocks. For Kid, it was about the longest ride of his life. Lou sat pressed up against the side of the carriage, her face turned away, staring into the darkness. Kid hunched miserably on the other end of the bench seat, thumbing the crown of his hat and wishing he'd never had the notion of a night out. By the time Kid got his wallet out and paid their driver in front of the hotel, Lou had already disappeared inside. Hurrying after her, he glimpsed the hem of her skirt disappearing up the stairs. He glumly trudged behind.

They'd left an oil lamp burning dimly on the low table in front of the fainting couch across the room from the bed. It cast only a narrow circle of light around itself, and Lou appeared only as a gray silhouette near the darkened window when Kid entered and closed the door behind him.

"Lou? I'm sorry I made you mad. It's just-"

She did not turn. "Please, Kid. I'm tired and just want to sleep." There was such sadness in her tone that Kid felt like kicking himself all the way back to Rock Creek. Somehow he felt responsible for the disastrous turn the evening had taken, though he couldn't feel that putting the brakes on their passionate clinch had been the wrong thing to do. It didn't matter. Lou was even more unhappy now than before he tried to cheer her up; he had failed.

"You take the bed, then. I'll just stretch out here on the divan."

She nodded wordlessly.

"I'll-I'll just head down the hall to the privy closet while you get changed." He let himself out quietly. When he returned a few minutes later, he saw a Lou-shaped lump on the bed, under the covers and lying on her side facing the wall. She'd left a blanket and pillow on Kid's makeshift cot. Stripping down to his long johns, Kid made himself as comfortable as possible on the narrow couch, pulled the blanket over him and turned out the light.


	16. Chapter 16

After a restless night, Kid was up and dressed with the first light. Lou was motionless in the bed, though he'd heard her tossing and turning enough to know she hadn't slept any more than he had. Kid slipped downstairs to the dining room and soon returned with a tray laden with mugs of hot coffee and plates of fried eggs, bacon and biscuits.

Lou was dressed in her green skirt and blouse, combing her hair in front of the bureau mirror, when Kid entered.

"I brought breakfast!" he said with exaggerated cheer. "Not as good as Rachel's, I'll bet, but it doesn't look too bad." He set the tray on the low table in front of the fainting couch and sat down. "Are you hungry, Lou?"

She turned and gave him a barely perceptible smile. "I'm a mite queasy this morning, to be honest." She dropped her eyes. "Musta been the champagne."

"Lou-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Kid."

"Please, Lou." He got up and moved to her. "I don't like how we left things between us last night."

Lou covered her face with her hands. "I feel so ashamed I wanna die."

"Huh? You've no call to feel ashamed, Lou."

"I don't? Getting' drunk and throwing myself at you like a saloon hall whore? I don't know how you can even look at me."

Kid placed his hands over hers and drew them away from her face. "That wasn't all on you, Lou. I was the one who suggested dancing. Truth is, I wanted to be close to you, and I'm as much to blame for what happened as you are." He gave her a rueful smile. "I guess you were right about that champagne stuff. Sorta sneaks up on you and packs a wallop."

Lou snorted, then turned serious again. "I'm grateful to you, Kid, for bein' such a gentleman last night … and for trying to make me feel better about it now."

"Is it working?"

"A little."

He smiled. "Good. I'm just sorry your fancy night out got ruin't. I wanted it to be special for you."

"It was, Kid! That beautiful dress, and the elegant restaurant, and the music and dancin'!" She gave him a genuine smile. "I've never had a night like it, and I don't guess I ever will again. Thank you." She lifted up on tiptoes and gave him a quick, chaste peck on the cheek.

"I guess it really was something at that," Kid conceded, relieved to have things set right with Lou again. "Though I can't say much for the vittles."

They both laughed, and Lou cast a look over Kid's shoulder at the breakfast tray.

"I guess I might be able to choke down some coffee and half a biscuit," she decided.

Taking her hand, Kid led her to the divan and sat beside her. As he reached for his coffee, Lou stopped him with a soft hand on his arm.

"I need to say one more thing, Kid."

"All right."

"What I said last night … about Jimmy."

Kid felt his mood take an abrupt nosedive. "Yeah?"

"He's never said anything like that about you. I just said it to get under your skin, and I'm sorry for it."

"It's all right."

She frowned. "No, it isn't. Whatever's happened with us, Kid, I don't want it to come between you and Jimmy."

Kid felt a niggling irritation. He didn't want to talk about Jimmy Hickok. "Jimmy and me can sort things between us ourselves, Lou. You don't need to worry about it."

"I do, though," she murmured, more to herself and him. Kid decided to change the subject.

"Biscuits are better warm," he said, nodding toward the plate. "While we eat, we can talk about how we're going to find Teresa and Jeremiah today."

"You really think we will?"

"Sure! St. Paul's bigger than Rock Creek, or even St. Joe, but it's not Chicago. How hard can it be?"

* * *

By late afternoon Kid had reason to wish he'd eaten those words along with his eggs and biscuit. As it turned out, finding a person in a new city whose records system and bureaucracy were not yet firmly established was hard indeed.

As their coach driver had suggested, they first visited the offices of the St. Paul Weekly Pioneer & Democrat. There they spoke to the editor, Earle S. Goodrich, and associated editor James Mills. Though both men were sympathetic, they explained that a thousand steamboat arrivals, crowded with new immigrants to the city, were expected that year in St. Paul. Unless a new arrival did something to attract attention to himself, he could easily blend into the swelling population of Minnesota's new capital.

Mills recommended they visit the Ramsey County Courthouse, the possibility that Oglethorpe had purchased property in the city. "In that case, he should be listed in the tax rolls."

They made their way across town to the government building, a massive, two-story structure fronted by four tall marble columns and capped with a cupola. There they spent several hours paging through plat books and deed registries dating back to the city's incorporation in 1848. But if James Oglethorpe had settled in St. Paul, he apparently had no records to show for it. After almost a full day of searching, Lou and Kid were no closer to finding Teresa and Jeremiah than they were before they left Rock Creek.

"Maybe this Oglethorpe is in Minneapolis, rather than St. Paul," the desk clerk said. "They don't have much for records across the river, but you could ask around."

Kid thanked the man and the two riders trudged wearily back to the boardwalk fronting Wabasha St. The young man gave his companion's shoulders a quick, reassuring squeeze. He could see Lou was tired and discouraged – and he was, too. "Let's go on back to the hotel, have a bite to eat and get a good night's sleep. We can start fresh in the morning."

"What's the sense, Kid? Seems like the only way we're going to find Oglethorpe is to go door to door lookin' for him."

"Whatever it takes, that's what we'll do, Lou."

She stopped walking abruptly and turned to face him. "No. I want you to head back to Rock Creek tomorrow. Ain't no sense in both of us losing our jobs."

Kid was already shaking his head before she finished. "Nuh-uh. I'm not leaving you here alone in this strange place."

"I can't give up until I find 'em, Kid. Even if it takes the rest of my life."

"Then neither can I." He gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll find them, Lou. One way or another."

"You're a good friend, Kid."

He saw tears shining in her sad eyes. "S'nothing you wouldn't do for me in the same place," he said gently. "You were a comfort to me when I lost my own brother." He hooked his arm through hers. "C'mon. I'm starved."

As they started walking again, a holler came from behind them. "Hey! You there!"

They turned to see a coach heading straight for them at high speed. Instinctively Kid stepped in front of Lou to protect her. But the conveyance came to an abrupt halt beside them, and they now recognized their driver from the previous afternoon.

"What are the chances!" the man exclaimed. "I was just driving over to the Murdock House to find you two, and here you are."

"You were looking for us?" Kid squinted up at the man.

"Yeah. I was hoping you hadn't left town yet. This is a day for miracles, I guess."

"What's this about?" Lou demanded.

The driver looked down at her with the same expression as the cat who swallowed the canary. "I found 'em!" he proclaimed proudly. "I found your sister and brother!"


	17. Chapter 17

"What do you mean you found my kids?" Lou gasped, stepping close to the coach. "You know where Teresa and Jeremiah are?"

He nodded briskly. "Yep." Then he shrugged. "Well, as good as found them."

"What does that mean?" Kid wasn't in the mood for riddles.

Their informant would not be rushed. "You see, today I was driving my coach like I always do, from the wharf to Grand, then the mill district, then uptown, then back to the river again."

Kid and Lou looked at each other in exasperation, but the storyteller didn't notice. "An hour or so ago I picked up this fella coming out of Johnson's real estate office on Summit. We got to talking, like I did with you folks, and he told me he was on his way home to his family after finalizing a business transaction."

"Go on," Kid prodded.

"I asked the man his name – just making conversation like a person does, you know – and he told me." The driver paused dramatically. "James Oglethorpe."

Lou gasped. "That's him! That's the man who took my sister and brother!"

The driver bobbed his head in enthusiastic agreement. "Yep. Gotta be the same one. I remembered the name because it was so unusual, and because what you told me about looking for your family has kind of been weighing on me ever since." He smiled proudly. "Guess it was divine intervention that I should meet up with both you and him. Seems like God wants you to get those children back."

Lou was already scrambling into the coach. "Where is he now? Can you take me?"

"'Course I can! Why do you think I was looking for you?"

As Kid climbed into the coach beside Lou, the driver turned in his seat. "I'm sure glad I found you in time," he said.

"In time for what?" asked Kid.

"It seems that business transaction Oglethorpe was about was finalizing the purchase of a piece of property – a homestead. He and his wife, and your sister and brother, are leaving St. Paul."

"What? Where for?" Lou wanted to know.

"Remember that wagon train I mentioned yesterday? The one headed for the north country? They're joining it. It leaves tomorrow."

* * *

"Can't this thing move any faster?" Lou fretted as their coach wound its way through the crowded streets at what Kid would have described as a break-neck pace. Lou had been beside herself with anxiety that they might somehow be too late to rescue her siblings.

Kid placed a steadying hand on her arm. "I'd going to be okay, Lou. We're going to get Jeremiah and Teresa back safe and sound."

She nodded, but her eyes were anxious.

As they continued toward the city's west side, Kid set his mind to how they would handle the situation when they arrived. It didn't seem likely, after traveling all the way to Missouri to get them, that the Oglethorpes would simply hand the McCloud children over without objection. Then there was the ticklish matter of them, not Louise, having legal custody of the children. Kid didn't expect a violent confrontation, but regretted leaving his holster back at the hotel. He knew nothing and no one would stop Lou from reclaiming her family – and whatever happened, Kid would stand with her.

The coach now turned onto a quieter street lined with modest, wood frame homes. Children were playing around several of them, but none were the little girl and boy they'd come all this way to find. At last the driver pulled over to the side of the road and pointed across at a small but neatly kept house with a large flower garden blooming behind an ornamental picket fence. A matronly figure in a blue dress and straw bonnet was bending over the clusters of daisies, coneflowers and tickweed. Lou jumped out of the carriage and started across the road at a half-run.

"Thanks!" Kid said, thrusting a dollar bill into the driver's hand. He scrambled out of the coach and sprinted after Lou, catching up to her just as she reached the open gate in the picket fence. The woman in blue was so intent on her gardening that she didn't hear the riders approach.

"Are you Mrs. Oglethorpe?" Lou now demanded.

Startled, the woman jumped. "Goodness! You surprised me!" She smiled at them in a friendly, if slightly puzzled, greeting. She appeared to be in her thirties, was slightly plump and had a round, florid face punctuated by a pair of dimples and wide, intelligent-looking hazel eyes. Mrs. Oglethorpe looked, Kid thought with a sinking feeling, like a very nice lady.

"Are you Mrs. James Oglethorpe?" Lou repeated, though her tone was less strident.

"Why … yes," the woman stammered just as a small, blond head popped up from under a clump of meadow rue.

"Louise?"

"Teresa!" Lou was around the garden in a flash and the little girl was in her arms. Lou kissed her all over her face and neck, squeezing her so hard that Teresa started to grow a little red in the face. "Oh, sweetheart! I was afraid I'd never see you again!"

Kid watched Mrs. Oglethorpe's expression change from astonishment to growing unease as Lou clung to the little girl as if her life depended on it.

"May I ask who you are?" she asked.

"This here's my sister Louise!" Teresa supplied happily. She directed her attention to her sister. "We're taking cuttings, Louise. For our new farm!"

Lou looked at the woman, who explained, "I thought it would be nice to have a few growing things from home in our new place. We're going north tomorrow. We have a homestead waiting near St. Cloud."

"We heard," Lou said curtly.

Mrs. Oglethorpe glanced quickly toward the road. "My husband and Jeremiah are loading the wagon down at the fairgrounds. They should be back soon." She smiled at Lou again, though it was clear she was anxious. "Won't you come in for a cup of tea? I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."

Kid saw a flash of indecision on Lou's face, as if she were debating between accepting the offer or making a run for it with Teresa. But there was still the matter of Jeremiah … and at that moment, Teresa wriggled out of Lou's arms and grabbed her by the hand.

"Yes, come in! You can see my room – well, my old room. I'll have a new one at the farm." She dragged Lou toward the front porch, chattering all the way. "We made raisin cookies yesterday, to take on the wagon. I helped. I'm learning how to do lots of things, now that I'm getting big like you. I'm even going to go to school like 'Miah next year."

Kid and Mrs. Oglethorpe trailed behind the sisters. Kid noted that Teresa was dressed in a crisp, yellow pinafore and her pigtails were tied with matching ribbons.

The lady of the house showed Kid and Lou to a small parlor devoid of furnishings except for a heavy, upholstered couch and one straight-backed chair. "I have to apologize for the state of the house," Mrs. Oglethorpe said. "We've been packing, and I'm afraid there's not much left here. Only the things we're leaving for the new owners." She looked around the room a little wistfully. "I'll miss our little home." Then she gazed down at Teresa, and Kid noted the warm glow in her eyes. "Teresa, would you like to help me get the tea and cookies for your sister and her friend?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Teresa darted off toward what Kid assumed to be the kitchen.

"Please make yourselves comfortable … at least, as best you can," the woman said, gesturing toward the couch. "We'll be back in a minute – and then we can have a nice chat."


	18. Chapter 18

After Mrs. Oglethorpe left Kid and Lou alone in the parlor, the riders looked at each other uncomfortably.

"The missus isn't exactly what I was expectin'," Lou admitted.

"She seems real nice, and awful fond of Teresa."

Lou's expression hardened a little. "I'm glad my sister and brother have been taken care of, but I'm here now. I'll do right by 'em, too."

"'Course you will."

Mrs. Oglethorpe and Teresa now returned, the lady holding a tray with a teapot, a creamer and four delicate china cups, and Teresa proudly bearing a plate heaped with cookies.

"That's sure a pretty set of china," Kid remarked conversationally as the lady sat down in the single chair and set the tray in her lap.

"Thank you. It was my mother's set. I kept it out to pack myself. James is careful with our things, but you know how men can be when they're in a hurry." She gave Lou a conspiratorial wink. "Teresa, why don't you serve your cookies while I pour the tea?"

Looking very important, Teresa carried the plate carefully first to Lou, then to Kid, then to Mrs. Oglethorpe. Then she set the plate on the floor and sat down cross-legged behind it. Meanwhile, Mrs. Oglethorpe handed steaming cups to the visitors.

"I get cream in mine," Teresa told them, a cookie clutched in each fist. Mrs. Oglethorpe poured a little tea and quite a lot of cream into a cup; Teresa shifted one of the cookies to the other hand and reached for her drink. "We have to be very careful with these dishes," she instructed Lou and Kid. "They're our best ones." She set down her cup very carefully next to the plate of cookies.

When Mrs. Oglethorpe had poured the last cup for herself, she took a small sip, then remarked, "The children have told me a lot about you, Louise. Teresa says you are a … cowboy?"

Kid smothered a chuckle with a bite of cookie.

"I'm a rider for the Pony Express," Lou clarified.

"That must be very exciting." Mrs. Oglethorpe sounded genuinely impressed.

"It has its moments."

The woman now looked to Kid. "And are you an express rider, too, Mr. …?"

"Folks just call me Kid. And yes, ma'am. I work for the express, too. That's how we met." He glanced sidelong at Lou, who was staring into her teacup with a trouble expression. "Mrs. Oglethorpe-"

"Please, call me Maggie."

Kid smiled. "Maggie, so you knew Teresa and Jeremiah had an older sister?"

Maggie took another sip of her tea, then set the cup down on its saucer. "Yes. Sister Angelica mentioned it when we inquired about adopting the children. We were given to understand she-" Maggie paused and switched her focus to Lou. "That you were out and on your own, living somewhere in the Nebraska Territory."

"Yes. Rock Creek, near Ft. Kearny. We were at Sweetwater until just a little while ago."

The woman nodded. "That's good to know. I was going to send you a letter, by way of the orphanage, after we got settled up north, to let you know how the children were doing. Now I can send it directly to … Rock Creek?"

"Yes'm," Kid confirmed when Lou didn't answer immediately. The girl rider was looking around the room.

"This place is real nice," she said abruptly. "Why do you want to pick up stakes and go to some unknown place where you have to start all over?"

"It's always been James's dream to have a farm of our own. We couldn't afford one back east, so we came here from Pennsylvania 10 years ago. James got a job at one of the mills, and we started saving up. It was our plan to wait to relocate until we had a family, but …" She trailed off and looked out the window with an expression of deep sadness. Then she collected herself and turned back to her guests. "After 15 years, it became apparent that we wouldn't have any children of our own. So we went ahead and put money down on land in Stearns County. Then a few weeks ago Lars Nelson – he and his family live two houses down – told James about the orphanage in St. Joseph. They came from there three years ago, and had adopted their boy Sam from the sisters."

Maggie looked down at Teresa, who was occupied with stacking the cookies one on top of the other on the plate. "James and I talked about it and prayed over it a while. We decided just to visit the place, to see what it was all about. Then we met Jeremiah and Teresa, and knew immediately that they were meant to be part of our family."

"So you wanted both of them? You didn't just take one because of t'other?" Lou asked.

"Of course we wanted both! James had his heart set on a boy to raise up a farmer like himself, and I ached for a little girl. When we learned Jeremiah and Teresa were natural brother and sister, we were sure the Lord had answered our prayers."

Just then Teresa looked up from her miniature construction project. "May I show Louise Annabelle?"

"Of course, sweetheart."

Teresa hopped to her feet and scampered out of the room. Louise raised her eyes questioningly at Maggie, who explained, "We have a new baby in the house."

Kid and Lou looked at each other in surprise, but before they could inquire further, Teresa skipped back into the room, cradling a small form wrapped in a piece of muslin.

"This is Annabelle," she proclaimed proudly, holding up her bundle for Lou and Kid to admire. "She's my very own baby." Kid peeked into the folds of fabric and beheld the cherubic features of a porcelain baby doll. "She has blue eyes, like him," Teresa noted, indicating Kid. "Maybe you're her pa."

Lou raised her fist to her mouth and stifled her laugh behind a cough. She nudged Kid and whispered, "Somethin' you forgot to mention, Kid?" He shot her a glance through narrowed eyes. Teresa, oblivious to their exchanged, continued. "Annabelle is 'dopted, like me and 'Miah. She didn't have a ma before, but I'm her mama now."

"Teresa is a very attentive little mother," Maggie smiled. "Her baby gets burped and changed about half a dozen times an hour." Suddenly something drew the woman's attention to the window. Following her gaze, Kid saw a wagon pull up in front of the house. It was driven by a pleasant-looking man about Maggie's age, and there was a boy sitting next to him with his feet propped up on the buckboard. Though grown considerably over the past year, Kid instantly recognized the youth as Jeremiah McCloud – now Oglethorpe. But in place of the rather sullen, resentful boy Kid had met back then, this Jeremiah was bouncing in his seat in happy excitement. Kid saw James Oglethorpe smile and lean over to say something to the boy, who laughed and jumped down from the wagon.

"There's James and Jeremiah. I'll just to let them know you're here," Maggie said, rising quickly.

By this time Teresa had wiggled her way onto the couch between Lou and Kid and was contentedly rocking her baby to sleep.

"Teresa," Lou said, "I'm sorry I wasn't there when the Oglethorpes came to take you away. I imagine you must have been scared."

"A little," the girl shrugged, looking up at her sister. "But they were real nice to us. We got to ride a train and a boat, and tomorrow we're going to ride in a big wagon with a top on it."

"You like Mr. and Mrs. Oglethorpe, don't you?"

Teresa nodded. Then she frowned a little. "They said we could call them ma and pa if we wanted, but I didn't know if that was right. I know we used to have a real ma and pa, but …"

"What is it, honey? You can tell me," Lou urged.

"Well, I-I don't remember 'em. Ma and pa. Is that bad of me?"

Lou stroked her little sister's hair affectionately. "Of course not. You were just a tiny baby when ma went to heaven, and pa died before you were even born."

"I wish I could remember, though," said the child softly.

Lou reached over and gathered Teresa into her lap. "Do you think you'd like to call Mrs. Oglethorpe ma?"

The girl hesitated, then nodded. "Are you mad at me, Louise?"

Kid saw Lou's chin quiver a bit, but she answered immediately. "Naw, I ain't mad. It's natural you should want a mama to love you and take care of you."

"Good afternoon." Looking to see the source of the deep, masculine greeting, Kid saw James Oglethorpe standing in the doorway. Jeremiah stood close in front of the man, and Maggie was at his side.

"'Miah!" Lou exclaimed.

"Hey, Louise," the boy said, not moving.

"Jerry, give your sister a proper welcome," James prodded gently.

Lou set Teresa off her lap and stood up, extending her arms toward her brother. Reluctantly he crossed the room and stepped into her hug.

"Look how tall you've gotten!" Lou observed, pulling back a little to look him in the face. "You're practically a grown man!"

Jeremiah refused to meet her gaze. "You ain't come to take us back to the orphanage, have you, Louise?"

Lou looked startled, and Kid observed tumult of emotions in her expression. Then she took a deep breath. Placing a finger under her brother's chin, she lifted his face to look up at her and smiled. "No. I ain't come to take you away from your new family, 'Miah. I just wanted to make sure you were doing all right. I'm still your sister, you know. That's my job."

He smiled back at her, the tension melting from his body. "Oh, yeah, Louise. We're doin' real good, both me and Teresa. We're leavin' tomorrow for our very own farm, and pa said I could even drive the wagon part way."

"With my supervision, of course," James clarified with a smile. Both Oglethorpes looked decidedly relieved to hear Louise say she wasn't here to claim their children. Now they both smiled brightly – and Lou smiled, too, but Kid, who knew her better than anybody, could read the anguish in her brown eyes.

"Will you stay to supper?" Maggie asked. "There's not much left in the kitchen, but I saved out some of last night's roast and a loaf of sourdough for sandwiches."

"And we have more cookies!" Teresa piped up.

"And we have cookies," James agreed, grinning at his new daughter.

"Thank you kindly, but we have to be getting back to the hotel," Lou answered. There was a tightness in her voice and Kid knew she was near her breaking point.

"Yes," he hurried to support her, "We're expected for dinner."

"Oh, that's a shame," said Maggie. "I'd hoped to have more time to get to know you."

Kid had moved to Lou's side and gently placed an arm around her waist. As he guided her toward the door, the whole Oglethorpe family trailed behind them onto the porch. There Lou stopped.

"I-I was wondering," she began in a tremulous voice, "If I might see you all off tomorrow. I have a few things for Teresa and Jeremiah and I'd like to say goodbye." Her voice cracked on the last word, and Maggie seemed to sense her distress.

"Of course," she said, stepping close to give Lou a quick hug. "The wagon train is leaving from the fairgrounds around 8 tomorrow morning."

"We'll be there," Kid promised. "Thank you for the tea." He tipped his hat, then quickly steered Lou off the porch and down to the street. He desperately hoped there might be a coach for hire in the vicinity. To his surprise, he saw the coach and driver who had delivered them still sitting where they'd left them. At the riders' approach, the driver jumped down from his seat and hurried to open the coach door.

"Thanks for waiting," Kid said quietly as he helped Lou into the vehicle.

"I thought you might need to make a quick getaway," he answered, casting a sympathetic look at Lou. Kid nodded. He climbed in, and the coach started moving even before he had the door fully closed. Kid looked at Lou, huddled on the seat next to him, and gently touched her shoulder. He heard her draw a shuddering breath, and then she flunk herself against him, sobbing into his chest. Kid, his own heart breaking for her, did the only thing he could: he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.


	19. Chapter 19

The sky over the Minnesota State Fairgrounds was brilliant blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds. Kid and Lou wended their way through the mass of wagons, horses and people jamming what would ordinarily be a large, open meadow. Children were playing tag between the wagon wheels, families stood in clusters saying their goodbyes, and the air was filled with the sounds of men shouting, horses whinnying, dogs barking and a general rumble of noise of indeterminate origin.

Kid found the chaotic scene both confusing and oddly compelling. What would it be like, he wondered, to be part of this great migration, to stake one's future on a dream of making a go of it in a still-wild country. Though the Nebraska Territory was still only sparsely settled, "civilization" was spreading fast as a wildfire across the prairie. It wouldn't be many years, Kid realized, before the whole continent would be tamed. The hardy and hopeful families gathered here, and similar pioneers starting out from points all along the frontier's edge, would make it happen in his lifetime, he was sure.

He glanced at Lou. Her face was pale and drawn, but her eyes were dry and the puffy redness around them had mostly faded. It had another long night. Kid had ordered dinner to their room, but Lou had no appetite. Neither was she willing to talk about what she was feeling. She turned away when Kid tried to draw her out, and he understood that pushing the issue would be a mistake. Through the night, from his cramped perch on the settee, he could hear her sobbing softly. It took every ounce of his self-control to keep from going to her, lying beside her and holding her while she grieved. He suspected she would let him … but would regret it in the morning and distance herself even more.

Even in the coach on the way back from the Oglethorpes, after the first, uncontrollable storm of tears had subsided, Lou had stiffened and withdrawn from him. Kid could see her close in on herself, shutting him out. He wondered if he would ever know what drove her to pretend to be so strong, why she was so determined not to need anyone.

He'd left early that morning to book their passage on the afternoon packet back to La Crosse. When he got back he found Lou packed and ready to go – dressed in her familiar canvas trousers, work shirt and vest. Her round, cowboy-style hat, only a little rumpled from having been rolled up in their valise, was on her head.

"This is who I am," she said in response to his questioning look. "A cowboy, like Teresa told Maggie. Got no reason to pretend I'm anything else."

"It doesn't matter what you wear," Kid had replied. "You're always a lady in my eyes."

Now, having wandered the crowded fairground a full half hour, Lou was beginning to worry.

"You don't think they left early?" She was clutching her cigar box of treasures to her chest.

Kid carried their valise in one hand and the box containing Lou's fancy dress tucked under his arm. "Nah, they knew we were coming. I'm sure they'd wait," he reassured her.

"Hey! Louise!" It was Jeremiah, suddenly ducking out from behind a nearby wagon. "Ours is just over here," he informed them, grabbing Lou's hand to tug her in the right direction.

Kid saw a wagon ahead that was identical to all the others around it, except for the smiling woman leaning out of the back and a little girl sitting on the ground playing with her doll. "Pa's off talking to the wagonmaster," Jeremiah said.

"Hello!" Maggie greeted them. She was stowing away the last few items in the crowded wagon. "I'm so glad you could make it to see us off!"

Lou squatted next to Teresa and gave her a big hug. "Jeremiah, come here," she said, extending her hand to drawn him down beside his two sisters. "I have a few things for you." She opened the cigar box. "This is for you, 'Miah." She handed him the tin whistle.

He looked at it a moment, then lifted it tentatively to his lips and blew. A reedy sound issued from the instrument, changing in pitch as he moved his fingers lightly over the holes in the barrel. A strange look came over his face. "I think … I remember this," he said, examining it closely. "Did I – was this mine when I was little?"

Lou nodded. "You got it for Christmas when you were two."

Jeremiah looked at it with a kind of wonder. "Pa says I can have a puppy when we get to the farm," he said. "I'm going to use this whistle to teach him tricks."

"That sounds like a very smart idea," Lou said, smiling.

Her brother tucked the whistle in his shirt pocket. Kid noticed he was blinking rapidly and there was a quiver in his chin very like the one he knew so well in Lou. "Louise … are we ever gonna see you again?"

"Of course you will! Maggie –" She stopped and corrected herself. "Your new ma is going to write me as soon as you get settled, so I'll be able to write you letters just like I did when you were in St. Joe. And you can write me back, and help your sister write, too." She pinched his chin between her thumb and forefinger. "Stearns County ain't at the end of the world, you know. I can come visit sometimes, and you can come visit me."

"I'd like that," he answered. Then he looked up at Kid with a stern expression. "You take care of my sister, hear? Or you'll have to answer to me."

"Yes, sir," Kid promised, offering his hand to shake on his oath.

"Pa asked me to fill up the water jug before we go," Jeremiah said. "I guess I better go do it." Kid noticed he averted his face from his sister.

"All right," Lou said. "You be good for your new ma and pa, now." She extended her hand to shake his. Jeremiah ran the back of his arm over his eyes, then turned to Lou and threw his arms around her. Kid would see that his cheeks were streaked with tears. "G'bye," he choked out, then let go and ran off.

Lou watched him disappear between the wagons. Then she turned to Teresa, and Kid noted that her eyes were wet. "I've got a couple of things for you, too, sweetheart." She reached into the box and pulled out the small blanket. "This was your very own baby blanket. I think it will keep Annabelle nice and warm, don't you?"

Teresa nodded solemnly and gently wrapped the doll in the soft cloth. "She likes it, I can tell."

Lou smiled and reached for the flat box under Kid's arm. "This is a special present from Kid and me," she explained.

Maggie had climbed out of the wagon and stood next to Kid, watching the scene with an expression of deep compassion.

"You're already getting to be a beautiful young lady," Lou continued. "It won't be too many more years before young fellas will be asking you to dances and parties, and we wanted you to have something extra special to wear." She lifted the lid of the box so Teresa could see the tiers of pink organdy inside.

"Ooooh, so pretty!" Teresa gasped, fingering the material. "This must be the most beautiful dress in the whole world!"

"I'll put it away in the cedar chest to keep it clean and nice until you're big enough to wear it," Maggie said.

"Thank you," said Lou, giving the woman a grateful smile. Then she turned back to Teresa. "I have one more thing for your ma to tuck away for safekeeping." She put her hand in the nearly empty box and withdrew the garnet ring. Opening Teresa's small palm, she placed the precious heirloom on it. "This ring belongs to our ma, the one who gave birth to you. She-she wanted you to have it."

Teresa picked the ring out of her palm and held it up to see it sparkle in the sunlight.

"You'll keep it safe for her?" Lou asked Maggie.

The woman nodded. "That's a precious keepsake. I'll make sure Teresa always remembers where it came from and what it means."

The two women shared a long look, communicating something between them that Kid was not privy to. Just then James strode up, with Jeremiah at his heels. "The wagons are starting to pull out," the man said. "I guess we'd better get ready to go."

Indeed, all around them the wagons were beginning to move. James climbed into the driver's seat and Jeremiah scrambled up next to him. Maggie climbed over the back gate of the wagon and waited while Lou picked up her little sister and lifted her toward her new mother's open arms. Kid thought he saw Lou hesitate just a second, but she let go of Teresa and stepped back. Kid came to stand beside her. James gee'd the horses and the wagon lurched forward.

"Be good! I love you!" Lou called after them as the Oglethorpe wagon edged forward, finally merging into the growing line of wagons streaming out of the fairgrounds.

"I didn't know you were going to give Teresa the ring," Kid said gently. "It's the only thing you had left of your ma."

Lou shook her head. "I got somethin' Teresa never will," she murmured. "I got my memories."


	20. Chapter 20

**Epilogue**

She was waiting, same as always, when he rode in. And same as always, except more every day, the sight of her made Kid's heart leap for joy. He slid off Katy as Lou sauntered toward him. She was smiling … but there was still a trace of sadness in her eyes that never entirely went away. Kid knew his own eyes betrayed a similar pain of loss.

The weeks since they'd gotten back from St. Paul had been eventful – and few of those events had been happy ones. Ike, the gentlest and most sensitive of the riders, was gone. Kid had said goodbye to the last ties to his past when first Garth and then Doritha were laid beneath of the sod of the town cemetery. Not far from their graves was an even new one that Lou kept decorated with fresh flowers – her friend Charlotte, who had made it possible for Lou to escape the clutches of the perverse and brutal Lyle Wicks.

These losses, and the deep secrets they had exposed, had drawn Kid and Lou closer, deepening their connection and understanding of each other. Although they didn't flaunt their relationship, there was no longer any pretense that Kid and Lou were not a couple. Their partnership was different from the heady, fire-in-the-blood passion that had marked their early courtship – and that had nearly cost them everything. Now Kid's world centered on Lou's happiness, not his own, and it was the same for her. They'd forged a bond that sustained them in these increasingly uncertain times.

The rapid expansion of the telegraph service was cutting ever deeper into the Pony Express's business, inexorably rendering horse-carried communication obsolete. The west was settling fast, bringing into conflict the opposing philosophies of those who cherished the wide open freedom of the "wild west" and those who sought to tame it. There was rising tension across the western territories between the white settlers and increasingly marginalized native peoples. And every day the drumbeat of war sounded louder and closer. Soon everyone would be forced to choose their side, Kid knew, and that would spell the end of their little family.

But today was not that day.

"I stopped by the post office on the way in," Kid said, slipping his hand around Lou's in the easy way that had become second nature to him. "Looks like another letter came for you postmarked St. Cloud, Minnesota."

Lou squealed and commenced a little dance. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" she pleaded, and he obliged by reaching into his coat pocket and handing over the prize. They'd been receiving such packets regularly since the Oglethorpe family reached their homestead, but Lou always had the same, exuberant reaction to news of her siblings.

As Kid let Katy into the paddock, Lou tore open the envelope and began filling her eyes with its contents. She was soon smiling more broadly than Kid had seen in a while.

"Good news, I take it?" Kid asked as he joined her at the fence rail.

She nodded. "It's from Maggie. They're getting' settled real well near someplace called Sauk Centre. It's not a proper town site yet, but James gets to St. Cloud about once a week to get the mail." She paused to read on, then filled him in. "They're still in the sod house, but the frame house is more than half done and they'll be in by first frost."

Another pause, then, "The kids send their love. They're doin' good and lookin' forward to starting school. Jeremiah got his puppy." She paused the giggled. "He named him Maximillian, after somebody in a book he read during the trip from St. Paul. Maggie says the name is bigger'n the puppy, but she guesses he'll grow into it. They just call him Max for now."

Lou fell silent again to read further down the page. "Teresa's still totin' Annabelle every place she goes, and she's already sizing up the local boys for the one who's gonna take her to them dances we told her about." Lou cast a mischievous glance at Kid. "She says she wants one with blue eyes."

Now she shuffled the letter behind a second sheet. "Look! Teresa drew a picture."

Kid peered over her shoulder at the treasured artwork. It depicted a slightly lop-sided square house with trees around it. Beside the house stood a line of crudely drawn figures: a tall man with a hat, a lady wearing a long dress, a boy with some long-eared creature at his feet that Kid guessed was meant to represent Maximillian, and a little girl in a ruffled dress holding an even littler figure in her arms. Kid recognized Teresa and Annabelle instantly. All of the figures had broad smiles on their faces.

"That's real good," Kid commented. "For such a little'un, Teresa has a nice, steady hand."

Lou nodded. She was tracing the figures of the boy and girl with her index finger. Her smile had evaporated, replaced by a look of melancholy Kid had come to know too well of late.

"What's the matter, Lou? Ain't you glad the kids are doing well?"

"Of course I am," she answered. "It's just … I can't help remembering how I promised ma I'd take care of them."

"And that's just what you've done, Lou," Kid said. "I know it damn near killed you to give them up, but you did it because you knew it was best for them."

Lou shrugged, still unsure.

"Do you think your ma would have wanted anything other than her littlest ones safe and cherished like they are with the Oglethorpes?"

"No, but …" She broke off and stared into the distance.

"Talk to me, Lou," he prodded gently. "Didn't we say we didn't want no more secrets between us?"

"Yeah," she conceded, giving him a sheepish look. "It's just that, from the minute I left the orphanage, I knew exactly what I needed to do: work and save enough to provide for my sister and brother. My dream was to have a place of our own where me and 'Miah and Teresa could live together as a family again. Now that dream is gone, and … I guess I'm feelin' a little lost."

Kid stood silently a moment, gathering his thoughts. The two riders stood side by side, watching Katy and Lightning cavorting in the corral.

"I should be in California now," Kid said finally.

"What?"

"When I left Virginia, I planned to make my way clear across the country to San Francisco. That was _my_ dream." He let his mind spool back to those days, which seemed a lifetime ago now. "Thinkin' about California is what kept me goin' all those miles I walked. When I was hungry, when I was cold, when I was so dog-tired it was all I could do to keep from laying down beside the trail and never getting' up again."

"What were you going to do in California?" Lou wanted to know.

He chuckled. "I dunno. Hadn't thought that far ahead. Strike it rich panning for gold, I guess." His gaze drifted back to Katy, now grazing contentedly next to Lou's black mare. "All my heart was set on that idea. Then, when I got to St. Joe, bought Katy and saw the notice lookin' for Express riders, I figured I'd work a few weeks – just 'til I got up enough money to take me to Denver or a little further. Then I'd pick up work there to get me the next leg, and make my way across the country like that."

"You never said anything about this before," Lou said.

Lost in his reminiscenses, Kid didn't respond to her remark. Instead he continued, "I started ridin' the Express … and it felt good to be doin' something that felt, well, sorta important. I liked the work and I liked the folks I was working with." He gave her a shy smile. "Some more than others

Lou blushed and smiled back.

"But I think … I guess I never really gave up on my dream of reaching California," Kid continued. "I just put it to the back of my mind for a while. Then Doritha turned up."

The girl rider looked up at him sharply and he felt a stab of regret for the way he'd shut her out while he was wrestling with how to help his childhood sweetheart. He hesitated, knowing what he had to say next would revive some of that hurt.

"Doritha asked me to run away with her. She didn't say California specifically but I know that's what she meant. We talked about it a lot back in Virginia, when I promised to send for her as soon as I got there."

"Why are you tellin' me this, Kid?" Lou whispered, not looking at him.

"Hear me out, Lou." Despite the gravity of their conversation, Kid had to smile a little; his Louise did have a habit of interrupting. "Doritha begged me to go with her, and then she kissed me."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kid saw Lou flinch a little. But he ploughed on. "I knew I should, Lou, to protect her. After what she did for me, I owed it to her. But …" He sighed and leaned over the fence rail. "But when I thought about leavin' here … it made me feel sick inside, Lou. And I realized, I didn't want that anymore. I didn't want California."

Now Kid turned to Lou and cupped his palm softly on her cheek tipping her face up to meet his gaze. "It turned out that a thing I never knew I wanted was something I couldn't live without." He looked intently into her face, letting his eyes say what it wasn't quite time yet to put into words.

"I'm not trying to tell you what you're feeling about Jeremiah and Teresa is the same thing. I'm just saying, sometimes it takes letting go of one dream to open the way for a new one."

Lou turned her face into his palm and kissed it tenderly. "Thank you for tellin' me."

"Somethin' else came in the mail today," Kid said now. He fished in his shirt pocket for a small package wrapped in brown paper. He handed it to Lou.

She looked at the neat printing on the front. The return address was St. Cloud, but the name on the front wasn't hers. "This is addressed to you."

"Yeah, but it's for you anyway."

Giving him a puzzled look, she unwrapped the little bundle. Inside was a small bag made of red velvet. She undid the drawstring and upended the bag over her palm. A necklace slid out. More specifically, it was a delicate cameo of the porcelain-white profile of an elegant lady on a blue background. The scene was set in a circle of filigreed gold looped on a slender chain.

"It's beautiful," Lou commented, "But why-"

"It's a locket," Kid pointed out. "Open it."

She examined the item closely, finally discovering a small button on one side. She pressed it, and the locket snapped open. Inside was a photo of two smiling children.

"Oh! My babies!" Lou exclaimed. "How?"

"I wrote to Maggie as soon as we got their address and asked her to have the kids sit for a daguerreotype. I sent her the locket to have it set in. It was my mother's."

Lou's eyes widened and welled with tears. "Oh, Kid. You shouldn't have. I know how few mementoes you have of her."

"But I have my memories, same as you. And … I know she'd have wanted you to have it."

"It's so special Kid," Lou whispered. "I'll treasure it." Impulsively she stretched on her toes and pressed her lips to his – a kiss filled with all the feeling that words couldn't express.

"Can I put it on you?" Kid asked.

"Please do." She bent her head as he stepped behind her and draped the fragile chain around her neck. As he did, he was reminded of another circle of gold he was even more eager to put on her – an event he was determined to address very soon.

She turned around so he could admire his handiwork. The cameo nestled just insie the collar of her shirt – close enough to her heart that it vibrated slightly with each beat. Now Lou reached up and buttoned the top button of her shirt, concealing and enclosing the treasure. "I'd better tuck this out of sight, or Cody will want one, too," she teased.

Kid grinned. He liked the idea that this was something just between them.

"We'd probably better get in the house before the boys have all the supper lapped up," he said. "By my calculation, it should be … chicken and dumplings?"

Lou nodded, returning his happy look, and leaned against him as he slung an arm around her waist. The pair crossed the yard together – a cowboy, and the girl of his dreams.


End file.
